


These Little Hours We Might Share

by Walkerbaby



Series: HAMILTON SHORT STORIES AND ONE SHOTS [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Crack Fic, Historical, M/M, So much crack fic, look you should just probably skip this unless you're already drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 03:16:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12202815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkerbaby/pseuds/Walkerbaby
Summary: A weird crossover between Hamilton and the new movie The Little Hours. If you haven't gone out on youtube and saw the redband trailer -- go do that first. This story will wait.George Washington is an alpha on the run when he encounters a drunken Prior Burr who just wants a way out of dealing with all the whiny, annoying omegas currently cloistered in his Priory. And that's when George Washington, unrepentant rogue, has the most brilliantly stupid idea in his entire life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's crack. And you probably should watch this first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-k7GY-0ugs  
> It's also complete so enjoy  
> And as always comments make your author feel loved.

He was slipping through the corridors, determined to get to his horse. If he could just get to his horse and away from the palazzo then he would be safe from her. Safe from her need for him. He would saddle his horse and fall in with the guards in the Ambassador’s caravan and he would leave her behind. He would leave her behind and he would forget her and he swore to any deity that was listening he would never again find himself in the bed of another man’s omega.

Even if the other man was a beta who pretended to have a knot on his cock to prevent the loss of his title and his estates.

It didn’t matter. George Washington was done bedding other men’s omega wives.

Especially if that man was the man who paid him his coin.

“Georgie!”

He winced and picked up his pace, staying close to the stone walls of the palazzo. If he could just make it to the stables he could get away from her. He’d join the caravan from the palazzo and go into Rome with the Ambassador. He would wait until His Excellency, the Master Sham of a Beta, Lord Cornwallis, was inside the Vatican, presenting his official papers to His Holiness and then, when everyone else was distracted, he would slip away.

It wasn’t worth staying for the last three months’ pay.

“Georgie darling,” she called out, her voice taunting him through the halls.

“Oh sweet Jesus,” George muttered under his breath. “I swear if you get me out of this—”

“Georgie.”

He froze as she stepped out of the cross corridor and tilted her head to the side, staring at him with wide, deranged, blue eyes. Her hair hung in lank curls around her shoulders and he could smell the sickly sweet stench of her unwashed skin and the wafting smells of rotting wine that stained her expensive yellow dress.

He swallowed as he stared at her.

When he’d first come into Ambassador Cornwallis’s employ he had thought the Ambassador’s Lady to be one of the finest omegas in England. Jemima Cornwallis was an intriguing creature, rarely seen in public without her husband and often heavily veiled. He’d heard rumors during his time in the Army that she was a renowned beauty and that Cornwallis made her cover herself because he resented anyone else who looked upon his young, omega, bride.

When he’d taken the Ambassador’s coin the other man was still the Alpha-Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Her Ladyship was rarely seen. Yet, when she was, she always seemed a refined, elegant sort of omega. Within a few months of his arrival in the household she had taken to riding on their estate while Lord Cornwallis was out, attending to business, and she would request George as her escort. She would sit on her mare, her face heavily veiled under her riding top hat and her tiny hands gloved. They would ride slowly, not speaking. Then, when they returned to the manor house he would help her to dismount, her tiny hand resting in his for just a moment longer than it should in his own, much larger hand.

Within a year they were only riding as far as a hayrick on the edge of the estate and he was tumbling her off the horse and rucking up her skirts to find her as eager in their coupling as he. She was young and sweet and warm in his hands and he’d been unable to resist her.

Her first heat after they’d become lovers they’d left the manor at dawn and he’d been buried inside her throughout the day. She’d barely made it home in time to sponge herself off and claim a headache to keep to her rooms. She’d told him later that her shoes were still on, under the coverlet of her bed, when Lord Cornwallis’s carriage had stopped in front of the manor’s front door.

“Give me a baby,” she would whisper in his ear as he spread her out across a bed of straw. “Do what that worthless, impotent, old goat of a beta my father married me off to cannot.”

He had always wondered if Lord Cornwallis had known whose bastard it was his wife had carried. As a beta he’d had to know that his wife would never carry his heir. But when the Lady Cornwallis announced her pregnancy? The man had acted as if being cuckholded was an unexpected blow to his virility. There had been threats and screaming and more than one expensive vase thrown between Lord and Lady Cornwallis.

Once Jemima began to show the other man wouldn’t even speak to her, refusing to stay in the same room with her for more than a moment unless forced by company to be in her presence.

In society though? In society, Lord Cornwallis was nothing but solicitous to his expecting spouse. A devoted husband, eager to be a father after so many years of bachelorhood. They’d named the boy George, after his godfather, the King. Then, the child had gone to a wet nurse at the Cornwallis family estate in Surrey and His Lordship, Alpha-Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he became the King’s Ambassador to Rome.

She had broken when they took the child from her. Her mind had cracked in half and she had fallen apart. She refused to leave her apartments. Refused to bathe. They would deliver meals to her room and she would send them back with the food untouched and the wine drained. Soon, the cook found that the whiskey and brandy, that she used to stock his Lordship’s study, was disappearing and empty bottles were found underneath the mistress’s bed.

Lady Cornwallis was so disturbed, that when it came time to leave their Irish estate, Lord Cornwallis had been forced to truss his wife up like a prisoner and, along with two footmen, had carried her to their carriage like a lamb ready for butchering.

He had rode with the rest of the Lord’s retainers as they made their way to the Dublin wharfs and listened to her screech like a fishmonger’s wife for the entire ride. By the time they reached the steamer she had screamed herself hoarse.

“Georgie,” her lilting voice brought him back to the present. “Oh Georgie.”

She swayed as she held a piece of parchment to her chest. “He is walking now.”

“I know.” George nodded. “You told me when you received the letter.”

She held the greasy, creased parchment in front of her eyes, swaying, and tried to focus. “Here it is. Dear, young, Viscount Moberly is quite a sturdy fellow. Already as tall as boys a year older than him, he is wide of shoulder and strong in his calves. On a Tuesday he was creeping along on his knees and by tea time, having watched the older boys play without him, had endeavored to pull himself up and balance against a chair. By breakfast on Thursday morning he was quite pleased to show his nurse how he could not only toddle about on his own but also was willing to run. Even when he fell the boy was so steadfast and brave that he did not cry. He simply pulled himself back up and began to run again.”

“You have told me, Your Ladyship,” George said soothingly. “He is a strong boy and you should be very proud of him.”

“He’s so much like you,” she said, swaying. “That is why he won’t let me keep my boy with me. It is why he sent my little angel away from me. He knew that if people saw young George standing beside you that everyone would know that the boy was not his. All of London society would know that is a worthless old goat who cannot keep a wife. That he cannot make his own sons. He would be exposed as the conniving beta that he is and then he would be ruined.”

George swallowed. It was very likely. He had seen the small portrait that had been sent along with the letter, George Edward Cornwallis, aged 18 months. And, while the child had Jemima’s tip tilted brown eyes and her pert nose, every other part of him was a perfect reproduction of George himself. And if it was known that Lady Jemima Cornwallis was married but not mated then people would begin to question why.

When it was revealed that His Lordship was a beta?

Revocation of his title in favor of the next alpha heir in the line. The loss of his seat in the House of Lords. He’d be barred from even joining the Commons. He wouldn’t even keep his rights to his title as General, since betas weren’t allowed into the British officer class. Lord and Lady Cornwallis would be ruined and their son? Georgie? He would become a laughingstock in England. Worse than a bastard— he’d be the alpha cuckoo foisted onto a conniving beta huckster of a father.

“Your Ladyship—”

She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her weight hang heavy on his neck. “We should make another. Come to my bed and undress me like you once did in that hayrick.”

“It is not—”

“No one else can do the things that you like as well as I do,” she murmured against his neck. “We’ll go to my room and I’ll drop to my knees and use my mouth on you. You can wrap your hands in my hair and I’ll open my throat—”

“Lady Cornwallis,” George said as he pulled away from her, looking around, desperate to make sure that no one had seen them together. “That is—”

“Then we’ll go to the bed and you can lay back and I’ll climb on top of you and we—”

“Lady Cornwallis!” George put his hands on her shoulders. “We cannot. We have spoken about this. If anyone were to see us, they would report us to His Lordship and hope for a substantial reward. And you would find yourself left in a convent to “rest” and I would find myself the unfortunate victim of a rifle misfire the next time his Lordship decides to fox hunt.”

“I do not care.” Jemima threw herself at him again. “He is not my ruler. Nor is he my king. And he has kept me locked away for so long that I know if you were to bed me now I would go into heat just being in the presence of your knot and we would conceive.”

“He is your husband,” George said, trying to disentangle himself again. “And that is a good deal more binding than the rule of a King.”

“I don’t care who he thinks he is or what authority he thinks he has. He is not the father of my son or the man that I love. You—”

He heard the boots on the corridor’s stone floors an instant before the word left her mouth.

“You are my love,” Jemima declared as Anthony Howe stepped into the corridor, staring directly at them.

“What is the meaning of this?” The head of the Ambassador’s guard asked, his voice crisp and biting, filled with the natural command of an alpha, as he came toward them.

George wrestled Jemima’s hands away from his neck and stepped away. “Her Ladyship is ill,” George said quickly, refusing to cower. “Her usual complaint. I found her in the halls, dizzy and confused, and I was attempting to escort her back to her rooms.”

“It’s not true!” Jemima yelled.

“She is speaking nonsense,” George said, keeping his voice low. “Vulgar accusations against the Ambassador. Things that no alpha of good breeding would ever repeat against another.”

“Hmmm.” Howe stared at him and George could see the other man fitting the pieces into place. “I shall escort the Lady Cornwallis back to her apartments and we’ll speak in my office after. You, me and the Ambassador.”

Shit, George thought to himself.

The other man had seen the portrait. He would actually look at George and, while the man was an unendurable snob most of the time, he wasn’t blind. While George suspected that Cornwallis knew exactly who had been tupping his wife, if a third party forced him to acknowledge it then there would be hell to pay. Hell that in England would lead to George being dismissed in disgrace with a threat of prison should he decide to make a fuss. But in the barely civilized city-state that was Rome, with it’s chastity bound Priest-Emperor? George would be found floating in the dirty waters of the Tiber and, while everyone would pretend sadness over his loss, there would be no investigation made into who had chosen to end his life.

He watched as Howe took Jemima’s arm and began to half escort and half drag her back toward her apartments. Once they had turned the corner he turned in the opposite direction, hurrying through corridors until he reached the kitchen yard. He couldn’t risk the time to pack his things. And he wouldn’t dare take his horse— the Ambassador would send armed men after him as a horse thief and they’d hang him on the road.

He couldn’t risk taking anything besides the clothes he was wearing and the good leather boots on his feet. He hurried to the garden wall and skirted close to it until he found the gate where the local villagers brought their produce to sell. He slipped the gate free, glanced over his shoulder once at the palazzo to see if he’d been detected, and then hurried out of gate and into the fields. He closed the gate behind him quietly and broke into a run for the small copse of trees in the distance. If he could make the woods before Howe realized he was gone, he might have a chance to make it out of the Papal States and make his way to Naples. Once there he could decide what to do next. Perhaps he could take a ship back to India and rejoin a regiment.

Anything was better than finding himself dead in the bloody cesspool that was Rome.


	2. Chapter 2

"Alexander," the elderly monk, Brother Hercules, called out as he moved towards him, his black, fine woolen robe scraping the ground, and the blue sash that marked him as a beta tied securely around his thick waist, appearing to cut him in half. He had replaced the blue hat that marked his rank within the Order of St. Anne Penitent with a wide brimmed straw hat to protect him from the sun. “Alexander Hamilton.” 

Alexander flinched. He didn't want to know what the other man wanted. Whatever it was, it was probably bad for Alexander. Most likely, he would be expected to dig for potatoes.  Again. It seemed his life revolved around either prayer, or digging for potatoes. 

But, instead of fleeing like he wanted, Alexander turned, his head bowed and his hands tucked into the long sleeves of the rough, brown wool robe, tied about his waist with only a rough cut of rope, that marked him as an omega-penitent— a young, unmarried and unknotted omega that the Order of St. Anne had formed to house and protect. "Yes, Father?" Alexander asked with a weary sigh. 

His nestmates— Lafayette and John— had kept him up until well after moon set last night and he had hoped to escape the monks’ attention and spend his morning in the monastery’s vast library instead. There was a book of Greek sonnets that he suspected the brothers did not know was in their library and he’d hoped to enjoy the lyrical quality of the Cato’s odes to the pleasure of his omegas heat without some monk muttering about obscenity.

"Your father has come to see you," the priest said. "Please come to the main hall so that you may speak with him." 

Alexander sighed, if prayers and potatoes were bad, they were heaven compared to a visit from his father, Lord James Hamilton.

The priest gave Alexander a sharp look. "There's no reason to fret, it's most likely that he has found you a handsome, young husband to take you for his own." 

Alexander tried not to sigh again. The last thing he wanted was a husband. Not a young husband. Not an old husband. Not a handsome husband. Nor an ugly one. Not a rich husband or a poor husband. In fact, he wanted no husband at all. 

Quite honestly? Alexander would be quite content to stay in the convent, if only he could give up digging potatoes. He would even resign himself to the prayers. 

He followed the priest slowly down the hall to visit his father in the main hall. Once there he saw the older man dressed in a fine crimson velvet tunic and knee length, black, silk hose. 

His father stood when he entered the room and opened his arms, as if his wayward omega son was someone he was delighted to see instead of a disgrace upon the family name. A Hamilton son as an omega— his father had nearly died of the shame when he found out. His ten year old son, his designated heir-- an omega. 

They had left for Italy, with it's many convents that catered to omegas of both sexes, and it's population of rich nobles eager to take an exotic, omega bride, within a month of Alexander's first bloom. His father had stopped to deliver the rest of the family to the home he'd rented in Florence and then, without letting Alexander even leave the carriage, the two of them had set off for Naples so that James Hamilton, Scottish nobleman with a distinguished family name and a pedigree could rid himself of a troublesome omega son who had polluted his family line and resulted in the second son— James— becoming the new heir. 

Alexander fought the urge to sigh again. His father was never happy when they were together. His father was only annoyed, impatient, and disappointed when he saw Alexander. Ever since he had presented he had been nothing to his father but a disgrace. 

If his father was happy, that meant there must be a suitor in waiting to marry him. Most likely someone rich but ancient, willing to line his father’s coffers with gold for the chance to despoil a  virgin omega. 

Alexander snorted at the very thought. As if there was an omega in Italy that hadn’t known the touch of another omega after their first full heat. The monks encouraged it, in fact. They housed omegas of a similar age in small groups, “nests”, and would preach to them about the need to console each other through their quarterly suffering. They would tell them to treat their nest mates with affection and would turn a blind eye to omegas kissing in darkened corners and halls. 

Alexander stepped into his father's arms and then let the man embrace him, fighting his urge to recoil away from the alpha’s touch instead. 

"Hello, Father," Alexander said quietly. "How are you this fine day?" 

"I am well," his father said, "but you, Alexander, you are even better."

Alexander fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead waited in expectant silence. 

His father was not the type to come to visit. In the first nine years he been in the convent his father had only come twice, and those times only when his mother had wanted to visit. When his mother died when he was eleven, a year after he entered the convent, his father had stopped coming. His three younger brothers had never come. Then, last year, when Alexander reached the age of eighteen his father had decided it was time for him to make a match. He had taken a home in Naples and spent his time scouring amongst the available nobles in Italy, both native born and those visiting in hopes of snaring an omega bride, to find a man worthy of Alexander. He had looked at aristocrats, rich merchants, even members of the church who were looking for an omega boy to keep as a mistress.

Each month he came with the new list of potential suitors. Each month Alexander found some reason his father had not seen to reject all of them, always dangling the possibility that if his father simply waited a  little longer a more lucrative offer would come along. 

"I have news," his father said.

"News?" Alexander asked weakly.

"The Duke of Melfi," his father said. "You have heard of him, yes?" 

"If you mean that he is eighty and suffering from gout," Alexander said, "yes, I've heard of him. I've also heard that all four of his marriages were to female omegas— omegas he often treated with more cruelty than he did his horses. And, from what I hear, he was so cruel to his horses that the Countess of Pisa wouldn't allow him to even enter her stables. And it isn’t as if the Countess is known for her tender touch." 

"That was the old Duke of Melfi," his father said. "The new Duke of Melfi, his son, is currently unwed and the new Duke has a preference for young men." 

"A preference for young men doesn't mean a desire, or the purse, necessary to marry an omega," Alexander argued, desperately seeking a way out of the rapidly tightening noose his father was trying to slip around his neck.

"The Duke of Melfi has a plenty rich purse," his father answered. 

"And what else does the Duke of Melfi have?" Alexander asked. "Does he have a big library? Does he have a fine mind? He must have something besides a fat purse to recommend him as a husband, Father. Otherwise you are simply selling me for profit."

"And what is wrong with my profit, I ask you?" 

“Father,” Alexander said, “it's not that I begrudge you a profit off selling me as if I were piece of chattel. It's simply that…” Alexander sighed. 

“This isn't simply an arrangement between Scottish nobles to marry off a wayward daughter.” Alexander shook his head. “Here, people expect omega sons to make good matches. The best matches. An omega male consort isn’t simply purchased, Father, they are wooed.” 

“Wooed?” His father snapped, throwing his hands up with impatience. “What is the use of wooing? You want the Duke of Melfi to woo you? You want him to come to this convent and pretend that he is stunned by your beauty and that his heart beats strangely when you flutter your eyelashes at him? You want him to come and treat you as if you are a society belle in need of winning?” 

“If I must marry a man then I want him to want me,” Alexander snapped. “Yes. Is that so unreasonable?” 

“This is a good match,” his father argued. “The Duke of Melfi is rich. Far richer than any other man in these godforsaken Italian city-states. Hell, I’ve heard rumors that he’s richer than King George himself.” 

“That is not difficult to claim,” Alexander snapped. “There are merchants all over Italy who are richer than the King of England. What else does the Duke have to make him worthy?” 

“Worthy?” his father snorted. “He’s willing to marry you instead of take you as a mistress. That is all the worthiness you need to worry about.” 

“But I don’t want to marry him! I don’t want to marry anyone!” 

“There is nothing wrong with the Duke of Melfi,” his father said tersely. “Just like there was nothing wrong with the Countess of Pisa’s second son.”

“Giovanni Riaro had a wife and two alpha sons,” Alexander argued. “He still has a wife and now a third alpha-son as well. And he’s barely literate in his own language! He would rather hunt than read.” 

“No one cared about that but you,” his father said. “No one cared that you would have been a mistress to the Countess’s second son rather than his lawful mate. No one cared that he would rather hunt than read. Giovanni Riario is an alpha, if he spent his life in a library than people would say that his knot was wasted. He’s an alpha. You’re an omega. All that anyone cared about was whether he could put his teeth upon your neck and his cock inside you until you gave him more healthy alpha sons to join the three his wife has provided!” 

“I cared!” Alexander protested.“What is the point of sending me to convent school to learn if you're simply going to sell me as a brood mare to the second son of a Countess? What was my education for if all you intended was to sell me to the first Duke that seemed interested?”

“I sent you to convent school,” his father replied, “to keep you from whelping some Scottish shepherd’s bastard after you went into heat. Or worse, one of your brothers came upon you unprotected on the estate and ruined you completely.”

Alexander threw his hands up in frustration. “Father, I don’t want to marry. And, if I must, I want to marry an alpha that doesn’t make me dream of murdering him on our wedding night.”

“Who cares what you want?” His father snapped, finally at the end of what Alexander knew was his notoriously short patience. “Do you think I cared if your mother liked me when we were wed? Do you think I cared if she liked me on the day she died? No, all I cared about was that she was there, she opened her legs, and nine months later I should have had an alpha son to act as my heir. Then, a year later, I had another alpha son to replace her first mistake. If she loved me, if she hated me, I could not have cared less. Her job was to provide me with alpha sons and she did her duty. That is all you will be expected to do as well. Lay back, open your legs, and give the man who buys you the heirs that he needs to keep his family line strong.” 

Alexander pushed away from his father and started to pace the room, running his hands through his hair. “And what about what I want?”

“You are an omega,” his father said. “Your purpose is to make sons.”

“But what if I want something more?” Alexander asked.

“What more could an omega want besides to make sons?” His father asked. 

“What more could I want?” Alexander asked. “I want to live! I want to fall in love! I want to go on long walks, and talk with my husband, and not feel as if I'm simply property. I want to appreciated and respected and loved.” 

“If you provide the Duke of Melfi with an alpha son as an heir within the first year of your marriage then he’ll appreciate you. Provide him with a dozen in as many years and he’ll respect you. Hell, if you give him alpha sons easily he might even learn to love you.” 

“But what if I don’t love him?” 

“You’ll have children to love,” his father retorted. “That is all anyone in your situation can ask for. A rich husband that will give you sons and who will make sure that you live in comfort.” 

“But—” 

“Alexander this is not about love. This is just a merging of families and an exchange of property.” 

“And I am the property,” Alexander said bitterly. 

“Yes,” his father said, his voice tired. “You are an omega. And you are my responsibility. My burden to bear. And it is my duty to make sure that you are married well and then, to use the influence that your match will provide, to help further your brothers in society.”

“My…” Alexander let his voice trail off. Of course,  his brothers . The three alpha sons that his father had left in England while he came this year to arrange his omega-son’s marriage. The brothers he hadn’t seen since he’d been sent here, kept out of sight, until he had reached an age where his father could sell him off to a husband. 

“The Duke of Melfi will pay a handsome dowry for my omega son,” his father said gently. “And he will not be unkind to you. He has promised that you will be given a handsome allowance to spend as you see fit. You will have full access to his library— which I have been told is substantial. He is also willing to provide you with any tutors that you might like to help further your education.” 

“But… Alexander said weakly, seeing his arguments against marriage slipping away as his father spoke. 

“And most importantly,” His father said. “He will let you keep all of your children with you for the first two years. And only your oldest alpha son will be fostered out after that. You’ll be able to keep the rest of your children with you, including any omegas that you might bear.” 

“I…” Alexander swallowed. It was a handsome offer, or would have been a handsome offer if he had wanted to marry. Except he did not. He had never wanted to marry. He had a full life here, at the convent. He taught the smaller omegas their lessons. He had a library at his disposal. He even had nest-mates to curl up with at night to keep the loneliness at bay. 

If he left the convent it was likely that he would never see Lafayette or John again. He would have to leave them, two of the omegas who had welcomed him into this place and helped make it his home. He would lose their soft caresses and tender lips, the feel of their warm hands on his body, and he would be forced to replace it with the too-rough urgency of an alpha in rut. Sweet kisses would become bitten flesh and instead of gentle acts of love he would be held down, forced open and his body battered open like the gates of Rome when the Visigoths had come to sack it. 

He shuddered at the comparison. 

“I have already arranged it,” his father said quietly. “You will marry the Duke of Melfi in one month. It is a good match.” 

“One month?” Alexander asked, his heart sinking into his stomach. 

“It will be a good match,” his father said and placed a hand on his shoulder. “He will treat you well. After all, no man would pay as handsomely as the Duke for a creature he only intends to mistreat.” 

“I…” Alexander swallowed, miserable, knowing that he had been neatly trapped by his father’s machinations. 

“It is done Alexander.” His father hugged him. “I have already made the arrangements. You’ll be married here, in one month, on the Feast of St. Anne the Penitent.” 

“The Feast…” 

“The fathers say that it is within a week of your normal heat. That will give you and the Duke the chance to…” His father swallowed. “Come to know each other in a more gentle fashion than you would if your first mating were to take place during your heat. Then, when you’ve grown accustomed to each other, you’ll have your heat and he’ll mark his claim and you’ll be joined. And you’ll be happy, Alexander. You’ll be a happy, wealthy, omega bride with an alpha who will give you many fine alpha sons.” 

“That…” Alexander swallowed as he pulled away from his father, desperately trying to keep his tears at bay. “That is thoughtful of you, Father.” 

The older man blushed. “Well, it was a promise I made your mother. She and I… Well, she thought it would be better for you to not enter your marriage in the same way that she did ours.” 

He stepped back and turned on his heel, not bothering to say anything more. 

Alexander watched as his father left the room and then hurried to the window, watching as his father climbed onto the horse one of the stableboys at the mounting block for him, and then dug his heels in, riding away without a backwards glance. 


	3. Chapter 3

George sighed, his feet aching, as he reached the top of a hill and found himself looking down into a valley with neat, well tended fields, and the stone building of a monastery settled on the next rise. When he had reached the last village he had been told that the monks there might allow him to sleep in the stables and give him a meal. 

“They will not let you into the keep,” one of the men he met along the road had said as he eyed George, wrinkling his nose. “They do not like alphas there.” 

George had raised an eyebrow at the man questioningly. 

“You should not want to go there anyway,” the man’s wife had said,settling herself against the cart’s bench like a broody chicken who had just, grudgingly, passed an egg for breakfast. “It is filled with harlots.” 

“If it were filled with harlots,” the man had said, giving his wife a sharp look, “more men would come to our village than already do. Instead, all we get are nobleman and merchants who travel around our village to reach the monastery so they don’t smell of commoners when they go wooing themselves a pair of warm thighs.” 

George looked between them, confused. 

“The convent,” the man said, finally taking enough pity on George to explain. “It is a repositorio. For the omegas. The holy fathers, they keep the boy omegas there until it is time for them to be wed. They won’t want an alpha like you within the walls.” 

A repositorio, his cock twitched at the very word. He had heard of such places of course, although there were none that he knew of in England. No, in London you were most likely to find a boy omega in one of the many heat houses in the city, servicing the large, transitory population of alphas that were always found in large cities. But the mere idea of marriage to a boy omega? That was a depravity that no well-bred English alpha would ever consider. 

It was better to marry a beta and allow the line to breed into beta sterility than take a boy, no matter how fertile. 

Not that George didn’t know a dozen minor nobles with a kept boy on the side. With the low birth rate of omegas, only the richest alphas could afford to court a young female omega. Most minor nobles, and second sons, would marry a beta woman from the nobility. Some, if they were lucky, had the means to contract an omega boy and keep him as a mistress. Then, when the omega delivered a child, the noble and his lady would declare it a medical miracle. They always had some excuse for why their ladies had been misdiagnosed as a beta when they were young— the most common excuse being that the lady in question’s extreme chastity and delicacy had prevented her from presenting before she had married. 

But in Italy… George’s cock was rigid now at the very thought of it. In Italy the male omegas were prized. Exotic. A man would not be thought a fool if he lost his head over a boy with wide eyes and a slender waist. No one would shame him for desiring strong, lithe thighs and a sweet, tender back to press his lips against in the heat of the moment. 

Inside this small country repositorio was millions of ducats worth of the sweetest flesh any alpha could desire. And George? George was an alpha with many desires. 

George paid the last of his coin at the inn to take a cold bath to scrub himself clean. Even if he wasn’t allowed past the stables outside the monastery’s walls it would do him no good to look a beggar. He traded the livery he’d worn through on his week of hiking South for a pair of rough woolen breeches and a coarse lawn shirt with ties at the neck. The innkeeper had given him a sunhat as well and a pair of rough, wooden clogs that eased the pain of his blistered feet. He carried the last of his money and his boots inside a rough sack slung over his shoulder and had found a thick stick to help him climb the rolling hills of the countryside he found himself in. 

The clothes he’d bought had come from a beta and he knew that the lye from the harsh soap he’d used to clean himself combined with the beta’s clothes would lessen his scent. He doubted it would gain him entrance to the palace of delights that he would soon find himself in front of, but it would make him seem less of a threat to the monks who guarded the treasures they kept there. 

“Ho there!” A voice called out and George looked up and saw a man in a dark blue robe stalking toward him, his robes streaming out behind him and his hand clapped to his head, keeping a blue biretta from flying away in the wind. 

George stopped and stared as the man, obviously someone of importance from the repositorio, as he marched toward George, his face thunderous. 

“You, pilgrim!” The man snapped. “Have you seen a cow?” 

“A cow?” George asked, confused. He had expected the monk to send him on his way with a scolding from the rough side of his tongue for being a wayward alpha come uninvited to a trove of priceless omega treasures. He had not expected his inquisition to begin with discussions of wayward dairy though. 

“Yes,” the monk replied. “A cow. They are large animals. They moo and shit and this one is white with black spots and has swollen udders that need milked. One of the fool omegas was supposed to milk her today and found himself distracted. Instead of milking the cow he milked another boy’s cock and left the barn door open and the cow, most likely disturbed by the sounds of a boy getting his cock sucked, decided that it was a good time for her to make her escape. Not that I blame her. Every day I pray for my own deliverance though I doubt it will be as easy as the cows.” 

“I…uh…” George choked, not sure what he was supposed to say and desperately trying to hide the iron rod of his erection at the thought of two omegas having an illicit rendezvous in a barn. “Do you need help finding it? The cow I mean.” 

“That…” The monk took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his shoulders slumping. “That would be helpful.” 

He eyed George carefully. “I take it you are traveling?” 

“I am.” 

“A criminal?” The monk asked. 

“Of course not,” George answered. “Simply a man in need of a new place.” 

“Well.” The monk nodded. “Help me find the cow and there will be a bed in one of our outbuildings that you can sleep in. And a hearty dinner that one of our brothers will bring you.” 

“That would be appreciated.” 

“I cannot let you into the grounds of course,” the monk continued. “Not with… well it wouldn’t be safe now would it?” 

George made a noncommittal noise in his throat. 

They moved across the field and soon George saw a collapsed trellis, the grape vines crushed underneath. He began following the path of crushed vines, away from the grape arbor and into the vegetable patch. There, at the far end, nibbling on the high grass, was a cow. 

“A lazy strumpet,” the monk sighed as they came upon the cow. “She couldn’t even be bothered to make a proper break for freedom.” 

George snorted as he took the cow’s leading rope and began to turn her around. 

The cow mooed plaintively. Apparently she liked the quarrelsome monk no more than he did. 

“My life is filled with lazy strumpets,” the monk continued. “Whining boys who would rather fuck than pray.” 

George made a noncommittal noise and tried to think of unpleasant things. 

“It is ridiculous,” the monk continued. “These families, they send their dirty little secrets to our monastery.  Hide my omega boy they plead with us.  Help us keep him virtuous until it is time for him to marry. Heaven forbid if they are left alone they’ll have a swelling baby before their first heat is done. And so they bring them to us and before you know it they’ve all formed little groups. Not just one boy but a group of them. Then, instead of the soothing sound of humble, virtuous young men at prayer, everywhere I go the only thing I hear is giggles and the sound of flesh against flesh.” 

His mother,  George thought to himself.  His mother naked in the bath. 

“I can’t bear it,” the monk huffed. “I can’t bear to go back yet. I can’t take the sounds and the giggles and the boys batting their eyes at each other. It is worse than ministering among the poor. I have been plagued by God, forced to minister in a brothel full of slatternly boys.” 

His grandmother naked. His grandmother naked, her dugs loose and saggy and jiggling as she sat naked on his grandfather. George tried to think of anything that would keep him from spilling himself just at the thoughts the other man’s words brought to mind. 

“Do you know what the worst part is?” the monk asked. 

“No?” George’s voice cracked. 

“It is the other monks,” the man continued. “Come, I’ve a couple of bottles of wine I have hidden in the garden shed closest to the vineyard. We can tie up the cow there and have a drink.” 

“Doesn’t she need to be milked?” George asked, staring at the lumbering cow beside them. 

“Fuck her,” the monk muttered. “I need a drink to fortify me before I return to the hell that I inhabit.” 

George stared at the other man and followed him to the rickety wooden shack that housed the gardening supplies. The man opened the door and stepped inside for a moment before returning with two gallon jugs, stoppered with corks. 

“Here we are.” He passed a jug to George and then sat down in the grass. 

“Thank you Father.” George nodded and sat down beside him. He pulled the cork from the jug and took a long drink of the wine. It was sweet and slightly tart and far better than anything that he’d ever had in Lord Cornwallis’ employ. 

“Aaron,” the monk said. 

George glanced over and saw the man take a long pull of his wine. “Father Aaron.” 

“Just Aaron will be fine,” the monk muttered. “For right now I would pretend that this is simply a fancy dress that I’ve put on to swindle a local village and not where I have found my life.” 

George took another drink of wine. 

“I was not meant to be a priest,” the man muttered. “It was not meant to be my destiny.” 

George made a noise of sympathy and took another drink. Most men felt that way about their lives, after all. 

“I…” the monk, Aaron, said with a flourish, “was a thespian.” 

“I didn’t know that men could do that,” George muttered as he leaned back on his elbows, his legs stretched out in front of him, and took another drink. 

Aaron looked over at him sharply. “I meant, I was an actor. A dramatic actor with a traveling show.” 

“Oh, one of those,” George said. “I imagine there are no laws against a man doing that.” 

“We were a wonderful troupe,” Aaron continued before taking a large gulp of his wine. “We did all the great shows. Morality plays. Mythology. Love stories. I was always the hero, of course.” 

“Of course,” George muttered noncommittally. 

“And the women,” Aaron sighed. “The women they loved me. Every where we went, we would set up our stage and the crowds would come. The jugglers would do their show and the singers would sing ballads and we had apprentices who would work the crowd, lightening pockets and emptying purses. Then, when the crowd was primed, we would begin the play dramatic! The curtain would open and Cesare, the one eyed boy who played our narrator, would begin his recitation and the apprentices would steal the rings off their fingers and the jewels off their clothes.” 

George took another drink. 

“And then I would step upon the stage and it was a moment that our driver used to call the Great Moistening. I would say my first line and every woman in the crowd, from the sweetest maid to the oldest grandmother would be wet to her knees and ready to let me have my way with her.” 

George took another drink. 

“And then we reached Siena,” Aaron muttered, “and my life was ruined.” 

George made a noise of interest, to prompt the man to continue with his story, and then took another drink. 

“We had picked up an apprentice in Rome. I told them,” Aaron muttered and then took a drink of his own wine. “I told them that the apprentice had far too shapely an arse to be a boy. And I was right. Within two days our newest apprentice was discovered to be the Lady Bianca Fierelli with her hair cropped and in a pair of her brother’s stolen breeches.

“The Lady Bianca…” Aaron sighed. “She could suck the silver plating off the Pope’s finest chalice. And as flexible as any of the tumblers we’d ever had with the troupe. Noble ladies are always the finest fucks.” 

George coughed then and took another drink. 

Aaron took another as well and let his eyes slide closed. 

A drunken monk, George thought to himself. He was sitting in a field, listening to a drunken monk confess his sins while an entire repositorio of omega boys were less than a mile away with no one but a group of drunken sots like the one beside him to guard them. His life was either the grandest of adventures or his God had a cruel, twisted sense of irony.

“God save me,” Aaron said. “The Lady Bianca was the best I ever had. Always eager to please.”

“What happened?” George asked. 

“We were in Siena and we’d just finished a show. I had played Oedipus and the crowd had cheered me for three ovations.” 

George made a noise of interest. 

“And I had retired to my wagon, the Lady Bianca on her back in front of me, her ankles on my shoulder and impaled on my thick cock…” 

The man trailed off and George could see his hand ghost down to the ties on his trousers and then pull away. 

“And I had almost reached the pinnacle of my bliss,” Aaron muttered. “And the damn girl’s brothers burst in.” 

George coughed and then took a drink of his wine. 

“They castrated me and told the troupe that if they didn’t wish to share my fate they’d leave me and quit the city before dawn. I was saved by a wandering monk and he nursed me to health. After that I took orders and the monk and I came here. Father Gage thought that perhaps a time among those most unfortunate, plagued by their lusts like no other, would help to redeem my soul. He believed that ministering to their souls would allow God to forgive me for my own indiscretions.” 

George took another drink. 

“Then, the fool man, died and left me in charge of a brothel full of mewling little boys and a half dozen sluts and a dozen horny beta monks, who only entered the order so they could sample the delights of that ripe, omega flesh before it found itself stretched on some inbred alpha noble’s cock. No offense meant of course,” Aaron said and nodded toward George who only shrugged in response.

“I wouldn’t think that the families would approve of that,” George muttered. “They send their boys to you for protection and—” 

“The families would be outraged,” Aaron interrupted. “Which is why there are rules. We keep them in single cells until they reach their first heat and then, after that, we only allow them to love amongst themselves until they’ve reached full ripening. The monks are under strict instructions that only the marriageable ones may be wooed for dalliances. And the families must never know. To keep the boys quiet we allow them their own indiscretions and agree to a code of silence. Since all of the brothers are betas we don’t worry about any little surprises among our boys. As long as they have never taken a knot most of these fool noblemen consider them as pure as the Virgin Mother. 

“Not that I haven’t been tempted, more than once, to just bring an alpha in and let him go from room to room,” Aaron muttered. 

George coughed on his wine, his heart hammering as his cock raised itself to volunteer for the task. 

“You cannot imagine what they are like,” Aaron continued. “We’ve two dozen omegas who have reached their heats and six who have attained a full ripening and are marriageable. One of them will feel off at breakfast, usually young Alexander, and by lunch they’ll all clawing at their robes and filling the monastery with their stench. Then, because we have no one to knot them, I’m forced to endure a week of listening to them mewl and whimper as they try to ride out their heats with each other.

“Thirty omegas begging to have the most depraved things done to them and there I am without a cock to enjoy them,” Aaron muttered. 

“You mean…” George looked at the other man. When he said he’d been castrated he thought the other man meant gelded like a horse. Not— 

“All of it?” he asked. 

“Off at the root,” Aaron said, not meeting his eyes. 

“Then how do you…” George coughed again and took another drink of wine, unable to look at the other man. 

“Father Gage was a talented physician,” Aaron muttered. “And a man who didn’t have enough sense to know that some patients should just be left to die. Instead he made me a cockless wonder in charge of a monastery full of young men who spend days at a time starving for the one thing I do not have.” 

George took another drink of wine, a plan hatching in his mind. A way for him to enjoy the fruits of such a place for a few weeks before the ships would begin to leave port again and make trips to England. “Have you ever considered doing that?” 

“Doing what?” Aaron asked. 

“Just bringing in an alpha to settle them?” 

Aaron scoffed. “Because nothing would ruin us more than an entire repositorio of pregnant omega boys who are too sullied to marry a nobleman. Instead of taking my cock, the thwarted grooms would have my head upon a pike.” 

“What if there was an alpha that couldn’t make a child?” George asked, gambling on the other man’s stupidity to see this foolish plan through. “One who had perhaps suffered an accident similar to your own? An alpha who had set out on foot, in search of a new life, after his lady love’s family treated him cruelly and mutilated his flesh?” 

“An alpha who no longer had a knot?” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Where would I find such a man?” 

“An alpha whose knot is not gone perhaps but mangled beyond repair?” George countered. “A man like that would not be quick to make his disability known but he could be found.” 

“It is impossible,” Aaron muttered. “Even if he did not whelp every omega in my care, someone would find out they had been breached and ruined.” 

“Then perhaps, if you would find such an alpha, he would explain to you that most of your young men would not need to be breached. Most of them would settle just by having the presence of an alpha nearby to temper their urges. And the ones in full ripening, they could be handled quietly. A service to them even. A chance for them to learn how to manage an alpha before they find themselves married and alone.”

“Well…” 

“Besides,” George said and took another drink of wine. “If you had an alpha like that, he could see to the first one to go into heat the minute he begins to feel ill. What did you say your little canary was named? The one who goes into heat first and sends the rest into agony with him? Alexander?” 

“Alexander Hamilton,” Aaron muttered. 

“This alpha could take him away and help him through his heat before the rest even begin to suffer. Instead of their heats building off each other they would remain calmer, waiting their turn to be serviced and your younger omegas— the ones who have only presented and not yet ripened? They will not have to suffer as many ill effects as they do now, trapped in a monastery with fully ripened, in heat omegas, to spur their own quickening on.” 

“That…” Aaron stared at me. “That would be a great help to all of us. If only I could find an alpha like that. One who is discreet and caring and would be willing to do such a service for our young omegas and for the Lord.” 

George took a drink of his wine. 

“Of course we could not tell people that was why this man was here. I would have to give him other duties. A gardener perhaps? And we would house him alone so that others would not know he was not simply a beta. He’d have to bathe regularly with strong soap to keep his smell contained.” 

“The inn keeper makes a lye soap that will take the skin off if you’re not careful. If some lemon was added to scent it the alpha would be indistinguishable from a beta unless you were close enough to sniff the skin.” 

“Hmmmm.” Aaron looked at him. “I don’t believe I’ve gotten your name?” 

“George.” He stuck a hand out for the other man to shake. 

“George,” Aaron repeated. “And how are you with vegetables George?” 

“I am a decent gardener,” George answered. “I’m sure I can make your garden bountiful and ripe.” 

“Come.” Aaron stood, swaying alarmingly. “I believe we have some ham in the kitchen and many more bottles of wine.” 

  



	4. Chapter 4

“It seems,” Lafayette said, as he pushed Alex into the tiny cell that they shared and closed the door behind them. “That our little Alexander has a crush.”

“A crush?” John asked, in disbelief and then laughed. “Who in heaven would Alexander have a crush on? One of the younger omegas?” 

“I don't have a crush,” Alexander said, rolling his eyes, as he leaned back against Lafayette. 

“Of course, you have crush,” Lafayette said. “Anyone could see it. The minute that man came into our monastery your eyes went wide and your heart began to pound and I swear you were wet all the way to your ankles.”

“Not true,” Alexander said, crossly, as the other man began to untie the belt around Alexander’s waist. He slapped it Lafayette's fingers and stepped away from him. “I do not have a crush.”

“Who does Alexander not have a crush on?” John asked. “Is there a new omega here? Should I convince Father Stirling that he needs to be moved into our cell?” 

“The new gardener,” Lafayette said with a smirk. He grabbed for the tie around Alexander's waist and caught it, pulling Alexander in for a kiss. His lips pressed against Alexander's, soft and sweet and nothing like Alexander imagined the Duke of Melfi's own lips would be. Lafayette's tongue probed into his mouth and Alexander sighed, wrapping his arms around the older boy’s slender waist. Sometimes, Lafayette could be a pain but he was an excellent kisser, and Alexander would miss him when once he was married. 

“Hey now.” John stepped behind him and wrapped his arms around Alexander's waist bringing his face to Alexander's neck and nibbling the flesh there. “You seem to have forgotten that I'm here as well.”

“We haven't forgotten,” Lafayette muttered. “We just don't care.”

Alexander chuckled at the two older omegas teasing each other.

“Don't care?” John asked as he pressed himself against the cleft of Alexander's ass. 

Alexander moaned at the friction. 

“I'm sure someone here cares,” John said smugly.

Alexander ground back against him and tilted his head back breaking his kiss with Lafayette and leaving his lips open for John. The older, French, omega began to feast upon Alexander’s neck, laving it with hot kisses and tiny nips of his teeth, as John tilted his head down and began to savage Alexander's mouth. Both of the older omega's hands were roaming across to his robe, rucking it up and pulling him free of it’s folds.

“You still haven't told me who Alexander has a crush on,” John said as he pulled away from Alexander's mouth and then stepped back. He took Alexander's hand and began to lead them all towards the bed.

“I do not have a crush,” Alexander protested. “It was just curious, that gardener coming here.”

“He won’t be the only one coming in a minute,” Lafayette said darkly as he pulled Alexander’s back to his now naked front and let his hands slip down to play with Alexander’s cock as his own rubbed against the cleft of Alexander’s ass. 

“Curious?” John asked.

“Curious is not the word I would use for it,” Lafayette said, one hand now coming up to pinch Alexander’s left nipple while the other hand continued to stroke him. “Not with the way Alexander behaved.”

“How did our little Alexander behave?” John asked as he pulled off his own robe.

“He dropped his shovel and completely forgot to dig the horrible potatoes that we were forced to harvest today,” Lafayette said as he urged Alexander onto the bed on all fours, John in front of him and Lafayette behind.

“I’m going to start forgetting how to do other things as well if you don’t stop,” Alexander muttered and moved as if he was going to climb out of bed. 

Lafayette grabbed his hips, holding him still. A soft hand rubbed across his lower back and then Alexander felt Lafayette press a kiss to the dimples at the top of his ass. “There, there, my love,” Lafayette said quietly. “There, there, you know were just teasing you.

“I just think it's curious,” Alexander said. “How often do they bring new people here? And this one isn't a monk. They never bring men inside the walls who aren’t monks.” 

“There are men in the world who are not monks,” John said.

“Yes,” Alexander retorted. “But they don't bring them here.”

“There are plenty of gardeners here, and none of them are monks,” Lafayette said, and an instant later Alexander heard the soft shush-shush slide of the cork being pulled from a bottle of oil. “There are gardeners, and they're the men who bring the wine, and there's the cobbler who comes to make our shoes, and the farmer who comes to deliver the calves we butcher. There are all sorts of men who come here. But you don't give them all eyes like you gave the newest one who came today. Admit it Alexander, you have a crush on that new gardener. You’re curious if what he has in his breeches is that different from what we have under our robes. And you want to know if what he would feel like…” 

Alexander felt a slick brave brush of oiled fingers against his entrance and bit his lower lip, trying not to moan like a wanton from the slightest touch.

“I don’t want anyone else in my bed,” Alexander hissed as Lafayette’s fingers breached him. “The two of you are more than enough.” 

“It’s not a bad thing to wonder what sex with a beta is like. Or even an alpha,” Lafayette whispered as he began to scissor two fingers, stretching Alexander. “You can like us and that beta as well.” 

“Lafayette,” John said, his voice pouting. “Tonight was my turn.”

“No,” Lafayette said. “It's never your turn to go first, it's better for Alexander if you don't.”

“But,” John protested. “When you go first you just stretch him out. If I go first then he’s tight for both of us. Smaller omega should go first.” 

“Older omega goes first,” Lafayette retorted, sliding his fingers out and then adding a third. 

“Lafayette,” John muttered, “you always do this. You always go first. He’d enjoy me more if you didn’t over stretch him before I got my chance.” 

“It's better if you go second my love,” Lafayette said, his voice sharp, as he found that spot inside Alexander that made his toes curl. “You last longer if you let Alexander suck you off first. You know if you go straight to fucking you’re just going to come on your second stroke and then our poor little Alexander won’t get to come. Besides, Alexander likes it when I go first. Don't you sweetheart?”

He twisted his fingers inside Alexander and rubbed against the sweet spot that made Alexander’s entire body feel as though it had been struck by lightening and it was all Alexander could do not come across bedsheets. He just moaned as Lafayette continued to stroke inside of him, aching to come and the other omega hadn’t even began to fuck him.

“Now, my sweet one,” Lafayette pulled his hand free and Alexander could hear him slicking his cock. “Do you want us at the same time, or would you prefer for me to wait while you suck him off? Or should he have to wait until I’ve made you feel good before he gets his treat?” 

Instead of saying anything Alexander reached forward and grabbed John's hip pulling the other man towards his mouth and lifted his hips, wiggling his ass at Lafayette.

“See?” Lafayette said, his voice teasing. “I think everyone will get what they want tonight. And besides, once you're done with Alexander, and I've had a bit of a rest, I'll give you what you like as well.”

“You think you're heaven’s gift to fucking omegas,” John retorted. “But one of these days, that Marquis your father has arranged for you to marry, will come to get you and you'll be just like us, another omega with a cock up his ass.”

“Possibly, but it will be the cock of a king while you’re riding the not of the little merchant your father has contracted with for you,” Lafayette said. “And, with my experience, I'll at least know how to tell His Majesty how to use that thick, regal knot of his, so my alpha isn’t the only one who gets to spill when we fuck.”

John slipped his cock between Alexander's lips, caressing his cheek as Alexander opened his throat and took the other omega in. 

Alexander moaned in delight at the weight on his tongue and the salty taste of the other omega in his mouth. Behind him he could feel Lafayette nudging against his entrance with the tip of his cock and he tried to relax between the two of them, eager to be loved. 

Lafayette pressed the thick head of his cock against Alexander's ass and Alexander took a deep breath through his nose, just holding John on his tongue, as he waited for the burn to pass.

“Slowly, slowly,” Lafayette pressed inside of him until Alexander could feel the other omega's balls pressed against his skin. Then, Lafayette gently caressed his hips. “How's that feel, sweetheart?” Lafayette asked.

Alexander moaned around John's cock, and John wove his fingers through Alexander's hair pulling it slightly.

“Careful,” Lafayette said, his tone teasing. “If you do that too much, John's going to come before you even get the chance to give him a good sucking.”

“I will not,” John said through gritted teeth.

Alexander felt Lafayette shift, drawing slowly out of him, and as the older boy slipped almost free, he took a deep breath and began to suck lightly on John's cock.

Then, as Lafayette thrust home, he let out a long, low, moan, and clenched all his muscles, trying to make everything inside of him a nice, tight fit. 

John moaned and thrust his hips forward, forcing Alexander to swallow John’s cock into his throat, far deeper than he’d planned.

Alexander could taste the beginnings of his seed pearling from his tip. He pulled his head back slightly, and then licked along the shaft twisting his tongue around the rim and then opened his mouth wide and sucked back down again.

“Good boy,” John muttered shifting his hips forward beginning to thrust into Alexander's mouth.

“Isn't he just,” Lafayette panted, shifting his hips in time with John's so that when Lafayette pushed forward John had shifted back and when John thrust forward Lafayette was retreating, moving Alexander in a wave of motion back and forth between their bodies.

“He's going to be wasted on the Duke of Melfi,” Lafayette muttered as he began to pick up the pace, sending sparks flying along Alexander’s skin as he pounded against that sweet spot, his pace hard and unrelenting.

“Alexander,” John groaned, “is wasted on anyone who isn't us.”

He let out another groan then and Alexander felt his cock thicken and then twitch once, twice, and then spill across Alexander’s tongue. John unclenched his fingers from Alexander's hair and then pulled his now softening cock free of Alexander's mouth. “Good boy,” John muttered as he leaned down to kiss Alexander's forehead. “Such a beautiful boy.”

“I told you he wouldn’t last long,” Lafayette joked as he continued to thrust his own hips picking up speed. “Our John is not meant for the more manly pursuits of love.” 

“Oh!” Alexander panted. “Please, please, please!”

“There, there.” Lafayette patted his hip as he continued to thrust. “You know I'll get you there, don’t worry.”

“You feel so good! Oh God! Oh God, so good,” Alexander wailed, arching his back and trying to get closer to Lafayette, his own cock hard and aching, untouched, underneath him.

Lafayette picked up speed and Alexander felt long elegant fingers reached down to curl around him and begin to stroke. “Is that what you like sweet boy,” Lafayette said through gritted teeth. “Is that what you need? You need me to stroke that sweet, little, cock for you?”

“Yes! God, please!”

“You like me fucking you like this don't you?” Lafayette grit out, his hips still pounding. “You like being the little slut that takes it from both of us.”

“Oh,” Alexander moaned as he felt all the muscles in his body begin to tighten.

“You want to take it like this for that new gardener,” Lafayette said as Alexander spilled across his fingers.

Instead of stopping Lafayette simply pulled his hand away grabbed both of Alexander's hips and began to thrust violently into him. “You want him to take you just like this. You want him to shove that thick beta cocked inside you and make you fucking scream.”

Alexander could feel himself begin to stiffen again as Lafayette fucked him hard enough that he could hear the ropes on their bedstead creaking.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Alexander screamed.

Lafayette moaned as he finally released inside Alexander and then dropped his head down on the Alexander's sweaty shoulder pressing a kiss against Alexander’s skin. “You are a wonder. And you're wasted on the Duke of Melfi.”

“Love you,” Alexander panted.

“Love you too, sweet boy,” Lafayette whispered as he pulled away from Alexander and dropped onto the bed beside him.

“Love you,” John said as he leaned forward to kiss Alexander's sweaty brow. “Still feeling good?”

Instead of answering Alexander just lifted his hips and smiled.

John shifted off the bed and moved to walk behind Alexander so that he could take his turn.

“Definitely wasted on the Duke of Melfi,” Lafayette said as he lounged next Alexander one hand up casually playing with his own nipples.“And you're definitely wasted on some beta gardener, I don't care how many muscles he has.”

Alexander moaned as John nudged the head of his cock against Alexander’s already stretched entrance, not nearly as large as Lafayette, but still enough to make him feel full.

“I don't,” Alexander gasped as John entered him with one long, slow, slick slide. “I don't think he's actually a beta. I think you might be an alpha in hiding.”

“An alpha in hiding?” Lafayette heard as a hand playing with his nipples slipped down to begin fondling his balls. “Now that is interesting. It seems our little Alexander might get himself knotted before his wedding after all.”

  



	5. Chapter 5

George stared at the omega in front of him in the potato fields. He was on his knees, his heart shaped arse in the air, tempting George every time the omega shifted. His dark hair was tied back in a low knot at the back of his scalp and George could see the long, slender line of his pale neck. He tried to focus on the grape vines he was meant to be tending instead of thinking about what it would feel like to lure the omega into his tiny hut and put his teeth to that tender neck. 

He felt himself stiffen as the fantasy that had plagued him all week played out in his mind again. Alexander Hamilton. Nineteen. Slender and sweet. According to everyone else the omega was never quiet, his mouth always seeming to be moving, but whenever George got near him the omega was always silent, his eyes cast down, and a blush painting his softly rounded cheeks. 

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, determined to just ignore the omega. He had tried to do that with all of them once he’d finally sobered up and found his sense again. The very next morning he’d realized that he’d let his cock take over the day before and now he’d have to find a way out of the situation he’d found himself in without doing anything stupid. Anything stupid, of course being shorthand, for luring a young omega back to his tiny hut and fucking the poor thing senseless before biting down on a sweet neck.

What had he been thinking? George had wondered the next morning when his aching head had finally remembered that he’d lied to a monk, claimed to be sterile and pretended that somehow having an alpha around would keep the omegas calm instead of sending them all into heat at the same time. Hell, he’d been so drunk he’d actually suggested that he could somehow service them and keep from any of them going into whelp. 

The only thing more insane than the promises he’d made was the fact that the Prior was so dumb that he hadn’t realized that George was just another unbonded alpha unable to resist the temptation of dozens of unclaimed omegas nearby and willing to lie his knot off for a chance at sweet omega flesh.

He had woken that next morning and determined that he would do a day’s work to pay for his food and his quarters and then he’d continue on to Naples and the docks. He’d work for a day and then he’d leave and he’d keep his fingers (and his knot) to himself and away from the omegas. He’d keep his head down, his mouth shut and his cock in his breeches no matter how strong the temptation was to do otherwise. 

He’d gone out and began tending the monastery’s vegetable garden, staking the tomatoes and the peppers, watering the vines, and then  he had arrived with his two companions. Alexander Hamilton, a larger boy on either side of him. He’d learned their names in the last week— Lafayette and John Laurens. They shared Alexander’s cell and— from the possessive way the two of them often touched Alexander— George suspected they were the closest of friends. They’d arrived together, three unchaperoned omegas in full bloom whose sweet scents whispered an ode to his cock, begging him to have them all right there in the fields, taking them each in turn until they were all filled with his seed and whelping him a bastard each.

When the omegas had reached the garden he’d moved to the farthest end, away from where they were working, and tried to keep his eyes on his tasks. He’d failed miserably, watching the beautiful omega in front of him instead. He’d seen the darker one— Lafayette— turn and glance at him and then lean over to whisper in Alexander’s ear. The other omega’s head had gone up and within a few moments the faintest hint of his scent, sweet like new apples but gently spiced with a cinnamon scent of arousal, had reached George’s nose. 

The second omega— John— had leaned over to say something then and Alexander had fled, leaving George aching and smitten. 

All thoughts of leaving had fled him then and George had determined to stay and find a way to persuade the omega into his bed. 

Every day since that one he’d been careful to position himself near where the oldest omegas were working. Not close enough to be dangerous to the younger man but near enough that he knew Alexander Hamilton knew that he was there. He studied what fruit the young man sneaked from the orchard and the things he ate when lunch was brought to them in the field. He learned to observe when the omega was tired and when he was uncomfortable and would adjust his work so that any time he thought Alexander might need a new task— or to end his work for the day— he would go into their area and force the omegas to flee to another part of the garden. 

All except the oldest— Lafayette— who always seemed to linger, staring at him with appraising dark eyes. Then, once he was sure he had George’s eyes upon him he would turn slowly and saunter away, his hips swaying in an alluring tease that was designed to make any alpha in the omega’s vicinity lose his good sense. 

The French omega was attractive but George found that he rarely thought about him once he’d left George’s sight. Instead, his mind was firmly fixed on Alexander Hamilton and his inability to even meet George’s eyes. 

He had heard from the others that the omega was stubborn and argumentative and that he was perhaps the most educated person in the monastery— a fact that galled Prior Burr more than anything else. He was due to marry within the month and— according to Brother Hercules— still had not resigned himself to it. The omega had wanted to join the monastery as a penitent brother and live his life unclaimed even though his father had decided otherwise, lured by the rich promise of a dowry for his omega son.

But when they were near each other? Alexander never once uttered a word so that George could hear what he knew had to be a voice like the purest of bells.Even though he never spoke, whenever George was near he could see the flush on Alexander’s cheeks and the scent of his arousal in the air. The omega wanted to be touched and George was almost certain that it was his own touch the omega wanted and not that of his cell-mates. 

He was an omega ripe to be properly loved and the pleasure of his first claiming would be wasted on a nobleman who had simply bought Alexander to provide his heirs. 

No, the omega would be better with someone like George. An alpha with some experience in initiating a young omega into the acts of love. An alpha that would appreciate him and work for his pleasure and claim him gently. An alpha that would convince him that an omega as sweet as Alexander Hamilton? An omega that sweet would be wasted stuck here alone in a monastery as a penitent brother.

The only problem? He couldn’t get the young omega to even look at him, much less allow him to convince Alexander Hamilton to come to his hut and lift the skirts of his penitents robe. 

“I suspect his knot is truly magnificent,” the older omega’s voice carried on the wind back to him. “With those broad shoulders and strong thighs, he’d be the sort to consume you as you rode his cock. He’d probably take a chunk of the flesh out at your neck when he claimed you. More of a feasting than a simple nip to mark his ownership.” 

“Lafayette,” John Laurens laughed as they all turned to look at him. 

If George had any doubts they were talking about him they died the minute Alexander Hamilton blushed and ducked his head back down to focus on his work. 

“What?” The oldest looked at the others and then back at him, leering. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought of it yourself. That the idea of letting him hold you down and fuck you until you’re exhausted hasn’t intrigued you? What it would be like to be spent and then feel him push in for that final time, his knot swelling, pressing against your rim and rubbing against your channel? I bet he’d be the type to just rest his teeth against your bonding mark and let you try to squirm on him but he’d have you stuck fast on that big knot of his and you’d be completely at his mercy. Hell, I bet any omega who takes his knot wouldn’t be able to walk for a week, much less weed the garden. You’d be luck to get out of bed after riding that. He’d make you earn every inch of your pleasure and earn his bite.” 

John Laurens laughed. “Maybe we should see about taking turns then. One of us one day and another the next so that we can get off our knees in this garden. Except Alexander of course. If we let little Alexander on that knot then he’ll want nothing to do with us afterward. He’d be so stretched that he wouldn’t even know that one of us was inside him at night. He’d be on his knees, looking around, trying to figure out when you were going to stick it in.” 

“He does that with you anyway,” Lafayette retorted and George watched as Alexander stiffened for a moment and then jerked to his feet, fleeing the other omegas. 

Before he could think George had dropped his pruning shears into his garden basket and taken off after the, apparently embarrassed, omega. It took him only a moment to reach the garden gate and he saw Alexander fleeing toward the orchard— directly toward his own, tiny hut. 

“Alexander!” He called out as he raced after him and the omega froze at the edge of the trees and then spun around to stare at George. 

He stopped, just far enough away from the omega that he couldn’t touch him without moving. 

“How do you know my name?” Alexander panted at him, his pupils blown open. 

“I’m not deaf, I hear when the others speak of you,” George answered “Alexander Hamilton, the most desirable omega in the entire repositorio. You’ll marry the Duke of Melfi in a few weeks.” 

He saw the omega’s face fall. “It is an exchange of property not a love match.” 

“They say you’re the most intelligent person in the entire monastery. You know even more than the monks and the Prior.” 

“It doesn’t take much to know more than Prior Burr,” Alexander muttered. “The sheep even manage it.” 

George couldn’t help but smile and he saw Alexander’s blush deepen. 

George stepped closer and instead of fleeing, Alexander leaned toward him. “You don’t deny that you’re the most desirable omega in the repositorio though.” 

“I don’t need to deny it,” Alexander whispered. “Anyone with eyes can see Lafayette and then look at me and see that he is more desired than I am. He’s to become the bride of the Marquis de Marillac next year but everyone knows that it is simply a ruse to hide the fact that he’s meant to become the concubine of the Dauphin.” 

“A part of the royal harem?” George raised an eyebrow. “An admirable placement for an omega. But, I’m sure, if the Dauphin had seen you then he’d set aside the Dauphine and crown you instead.” 

“I do not—” 

“You are the most beautiful omega I have ever seen,” George interrupted and let his hand come up so he could trail the tips of his fingers along Alexander’s cheek. “And any alpha lucky enough to be gifted with the touch of your skin or the favor of your smile, would be a fool to claim that it is only his due as part of a business transaction.” 

Alexander’s breath hitched and he licked his lower lip. 

George smelled the spike of Alexander’s desire, sharp and rich smelling, like a fine wine laid with the richest of meals. He thought he could get drunk on the omega’s skin just by breathing it in and knew he’d be lost the moment his lips finally tasted Alexander Hamilton. 

“You smell like Earth and apples and life itself,” George whispered as he moved to wrap his arms around Alexander’s waist and pull him close. He wanted to grind against the omega and let Alexander feel him so that the omega would realize that George was the alpha who could please him, not some silly Italian nobleman with lace on his cuffs. 

“I…” Alexander swayed, his body trying to get closer to George even though his mind was fighting against it. 

“You are close aren’t you?” George whispered, stepping closer and wrapped Alexander in his arms. “Your body is beginning to ache isn’t it? You’re desperate with wanting to be touched?” 

“I…” 

“The omegas you’re taking to your bed aren’t enough any more are they?” George purred in his ear. “They put their fingers inside you and their cocks and still you want more. You want to be filled and taken and loved until you are so spent you can’t even move, don’t you?” 

Alexander moaned. 

“You need to be knotted, don’t you Alexander? You need someone to finally claim you properly and give you what your body so desperately needs.” 

The barest nod of his head. 

George dipped his nose down and began to scent along the side of Alexander’s neck. The scent of arousal on his skin was thick and George could smell his wetness. “Come with me,” George whispered. “We’ll go back to my hut and I’ll give you what you need. I’ll take your clothes off and spread you wide and take you. You can spend the rest of the day squirming on my knot and I’ll get my seed deep inside you. I’ll get so deep inside you that you’ll have a baby already growing when you walk up that aisle. You’ll be fucked and claimed and that Duke? He’ll only ever need to exert his claim one time and then you can be mine. I’ll come with you and keep you filled with my babies and before you know it you’ll have a baby in your belly and one at your breast and another hanging around your knees. Good, strong alpha sons.” 

The omega pushed away from him then. “No.” He shook his head quickly, clearing it. “No, we cannot. I cannot.” 

“You can.” George reached for him. “All we have to do is go back to my hut and I’ll have you filled and whelping before dinner time.” 

“I don’t want that!” Alexander snapped, even though the scent of his arousal told George the exact opposite. “I don’t want to be some alpha’s brood mare. Not the Duke of Melfi’s and not your’s! What I want is to be left alone!” 

He pushed past George and bolted out of the orchard, his scent trailing behind him, leaving George dumbfounded in his wake. 


	6. Chapter 6

He ran as fast as he could to get away from the alpha. What had he been thinking?

He hurried into the monastery and headed towards his cell. He just needed a chance to think. Yes, the alpha was handsome. He made Alexander feel things he had never thought he had he could feel before. He wanted when he was around the new alpha. But, he knew that the wanting was just a biological need. The wanting was his body's way of reminding him that he was not truly a man, he was an omega, and that his only purpose was to breed sons for an alpha.

But, Alexander reminded himself,  I don't want that. Why can't anyone understand that this isn't what I want?  He found himself in front of the only mirror in the monastery he found himself at the well and look down into it, staring at his face. "Traitor," he muttered to himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid traitorous body." He dropped the bucket into the well and filled it before tugging it up again. 

He be able to tell the fathers that he had brought in water and that he'd be going back out to the garden in a moment. Then, he’d escape into the library and calm himself and figure out the best way to stay as far from the alpha in the garden as possible. 

He heard footsteps behind him and cringed. Who was it now? Prior Burr? That was last thing Alexander needed, the other man yelling at him about not digging potatoes fast enough. 

Alexander often wondered if his father knew just what his life here at the repositorio was like. Did Father know that he paid handsomely every year for his son to act like slave labor to a bunch of monks? Did his father know that he was kept in a cell with two other omegas and allowed to do as he pleased, carnally knowing each of them in ways that would make the most jaded courtesan blush? He was sure his father thought he was a naïve, innocent, virgin who had no idea what to expect on his wedding night and if he found out the depravities that Alexander had witnessed and taken part in? His father would murder Prior Burr in the stable yard. And that was before he found out that the Prior had allowed an unbonded alpha into the grounds to seduce him.

Not that he wanted seduced. Not by an alpha. It would not be the glorious joining that the brothers so often preached about. Alexander knew better. One of the monks— Brother Arnold— had told him what to expect when his first cell mate, Neddie, had left to be married. He knew about the pain, and humiliation that was to come. He knew that he would be held down, and forcibly whelped.

He knew that it would hurt. And that he wouldn't be able to look himself in the mirror. He knew that his arm would bruise when he was bitten, and that afterward the alpha would leave him alone and he would be expected to care for himself. He knew that each time he went into heat he’d be held down and battered and violated until he provided his alpha with a child a year and then, once his body was finally worn out and useless, he’d be replaced with a younger omega concubine who would be forced to endure the same.

Alexander knew enough and what he knew was that being mated was the last thing he wanted.

"Alexander!" Lafayette's voice was soft behind him. He turned and saw the older boy coming towards him and dropped the bucket, the water sloshing over his feet, before he ran his hands through his messy hair.

“What happened to you?” Lafayette asked. “We were talking, and then you just ran away. And then that alpha, he followed you. Are you all right? Did he –”

“I'm sick of hearing about that alpha,” Alexander snapped. “I'm sick of hearing about when I'll be knotted. I'm sick of all of it. Why can't everyone just leave me alone?”

Lafayette stared at him, frozen. "Alexander? We were just teasing you. What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"No!" Alexander's fingers clenched in his hair any tugged at it despondently. “He was… He was nice. He followed me into the orchard, and he told me I was beautiful." 

"He said your beautiful?" Lafayette raised an eyebrow at him. "And what did you say?"

"Nothing," Alexander sighed. "He told me I was beautiful, and then he put his hands on my waist, and just as I thought he was getting ready to kiss me…"

"Just as he was getting ready to kiss you?" Lafayette prompted.

"Just as he was getting ready to kiss me," Alexander sighed again. "Then he started telling me how he wanted to breed me."

Lafayette raised an eyebrow. "Wow, someone works fast."

Alexander just glared at him. "He kept telling me how he would be better for me than the Duke of Melfi. He told me that he would breed me and I'd be whelped before I walked down the aisle."

"Having seen him, I don't know if that's a bad idea," Lafayette said. “I imagine he’d be a beast in bed, and given the size of his shoulders, he’d be the type to give you a nice, fat, healthy alpha son to put to your breast.” 

Alexander stared at him. "Lafayette! I couldn't. I don't even want to be married and mated to the man my father has sold me to, what makes you think I want to let someone else do such a thing to me?"

"Alexander, have you never…" Lafayette stared at him. "Have you never been with anyone else?"

"You know I have," Alexander snapped. "What would you call last night if not being with somebody? In fact being with two somebodies?"

“Of course you have with another omega,” Lafayette said. "We all have done that. What I meant was… Have you never? With one of the betas?"

Alexander blushed. "No, no I haven't."

"Not even during your heat?" Lafayette asked. "When they take you to the baths? Don't they…? Haven't you ever –" 

Alexander didn't meet the other boys eyes.

"Oh, Alexander," Lafayette said, his voice full of pity."How did that even happen? You've been here for…" 

"Ten years," Alexander said meekly.

"Not even with Brother Hercules?" 

"No!" Alexander shuddered "Brother Hercules? Who? Why?"

"Everyone," Lafayette. "Everyone has spent time with Brother Hercules. How do you think we get our robes tailored to fit us so well? You mean you and Brother Hercules have never —" 

" You have? " Alexander asked, astounded.

"Why do you think I'm always late to chapel when I'm assisting Brother Hercules in his rooms?" Lafayette shrugged.

Alexander felt something low, and upsetting, turning in his belly. He had always thought that he, and Lafayette, and John, had shared something special. He thought that they were together and that there was no one else. "But… What about John?"

" I think John is with Brother Hercules now," Lafayette said.

"But you, and he," Alexander threw up his hands. "I know that I have only been in your cell for two years, but you and John, you came here at the same time. Aren't you and he…"

"Are we in love?" Lafayette asked quietly. "Alexander, we're omega's. We don't get to be in love." 

"But don't you want to be?"

Lafayette sighed. "Alexander, you are not that simple. While," Lafayette’s voice trailed off and he let his fingers run up into his hair pulling at his curls. "Love just leads to getting hurt. And besides, we're not here to be in love. We're here to train us to breed alpha sons. And how else are you going to do that if you don't practice?"

Alexander stared at him. Practice? Who would want to  practice such terrible thing? Who would willingly practice being forced to suffer humiliation and pain?

"What about during your heat? When they take you for your baths,?" Lafayette asked gently. "You and one of the brothers have never…  You know? Don't you ever ask them to help? That's why they go with us to the baths," Lafayette said.

Alexander shuddered at the thought of one of the brothers touching him while he took his monthly bath. He remembered the first time he truly gone into a proper heat, he’d been rooming with Ned Stevens, an older Omega who had initiated him into the ideas of omega's comforting other omega's and Alexander had been half in love with him before the first week was out. 

Ned had been sweet, and gentle, and had always treated Alexander as if he were a precious jewel. Then, just before Alexander's first real heat, Ned had married a German Duke and had left the repositorio. He'd left Alexander with a toy that his fiancé had sent for him to practice with. A love token that was supposed to make him think of his fiancé during his heats until they could be married. 

He’d left the long, thick shaft with Alexander and told him that it would help him prepare for the day that he had an alpha husband of his own.

Then, Brother Arnold had come to his room, when Alexander was at the beginning of his heat, using the toy that Ned had left him as a goodbye gift.

Alexander shuddered at the memory. "No!" He wrapped his arms around his stomach. "No, I've never done that."

"Alexander?" Lafayette reached for him gently. "Alexander, it's okay."

“No, no it’s not.” Alexander couldn’t meet the other omega’s eyes. “I wouldn’t do such a thing. I know better. Brother Arnold, he showed me that such a thing was a sin. We are abominations of nature and we must suffer our penance. That is what alphas were sent for. To teach us to suffer so that we can be given forgiveness.” 

“Oh Alexander,” Lafayette said sadly "That isn’t it at all. That bastard Arnold. What did he do to you? Did he —?"

"No," Alexander shifted his weight from 1 foot to the other. "He just told me that I was dirty, and that I should be ashamed of myself. He told me an alpha wasn't something I should want. That what I wanted him to do to me, was disgusting, and that I was disgusting. He asked me if I knew what happened between an alpha and omega. He told me…"

Lafayette stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Alexander pulling him close. He ran his hands through Alexander's hair and then began rubbing circles into his back. "What did he tell you, sweetheart?"

"He told me it would hurt. He told me that the alpha who finally took me would hold me down and that he would force himself inside me and I that I would tear and that there would be blood and that it would hurt. He told me that the alpha would enjoy listening to me scream in pain as he ripped me apart. He told me that I'd be unable to sit or to walk or to even stand for days after my first mating. He told me that if I didn't please my alpha he would beat me, and nobody would blame him.” 

"Jesus," Lafayette muttered. "Of course Brother Arnold did. Of course.

“I have half a mind to go after that bastardized kitchen knife and let him see what it feels like to be the person on the bottom. Let him feel what it's like to have no balls. I can make him a matching set to Prior Burr. Take it all off. A pig like that?!" Lafayette through his hands into the air. "A pig like that does not deserve to live." 

Alexander just stared at him, unsure what to say.

"First, we're going to find John," Lafayette said, still pacing. "Then, will go to see Brother Rush. He can explain to you that it's not as Brother Arnold said. He should've explained it to you before. We’ll go to Brother Rush and he'll explain and to give you something to help you ease into the idea. He’ll give you something like Ned Stevens had. He has lots of them."

"I don't want…" Alexander started.

"Alexander," Lafayette reached for him and held him again. "Alexander, Brother Arnold lied to you. It may hurt a little," Lafayette said. "But no alpha is ever going to purposely hurt you. Not the gardener, not the Duke of Melfi. Not any alpha with any sense. Any alpha that is lucky enough to find himself between your thights? They're going to love you."

"I thought you said that love wasn't for omega's," Alexander retorted.

"We don't get to fall in love," Lafayette said. "That doesn't mean we can't make alphas fall in love with us. And you, Alexander? You are an omega that any alpha would fall in love with. So, we're going to find John, then were going to Brother Rush, and then we're going to show you that an alpha or beta is quite pleasant. In fact, once you had an alpha, you'll never want anyone else ever again."

"But…"

"But?" Lafayette raised an eyebrow at him.

"I can't go see George again," Alexander whispered. "I humiliated myself in front of him. I pushed him away. I told him that I didn't want to have an alpha."

"Well then," Lafayette said. "We'll just have to tell him you were mistaken."

"Mistaken? He's never going to want to speak to me again. He thinks I'm a fool!"

"Well," Lafayette said with a shrug. "We'll have to show him that you're something better than a fool, will just have to get you nice and relaxed and then you can explain to him that you're not a fool you're simply a virgin. And if he's not completely fine with that, then he's not worth your time."

"But what happens when the Duke of Melfi finds out? Don't you think he'll send me back here, in disgrace?"

"How's the Duke of Melfi to ever know?" Lafayette winked at him. "Do you intend to tell him?"

"But… Brother Arnold told me that whatever alpha I was pledged to would be able to tell if I had been with others."

Lafayette leaned close so that his lips were pressed against Alexander's ear. "Brother Arnold is a fool." He pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin behind Alexander's ear and then laced their fingers together. "Come now, will find John and then will find Brother Rush and then, once all of that is settled, we’ll figure out a way for you to go and see your George." 

"But I meant to marry another alpha."

"Yes," Lafayette said. "You'll spend the rest of your life being knotted for duty, but the first time you take an alpha should be at least for your own desire."

 


	7. Chapter 7

George was a fool, he thought to himself. He had rushed it. He had seen the omega and he had lost all his senses and chased after him, his knot doing the thinking for him. He knew it was a bad idea when he had sobered up that first morning but still he had stayed. He thought that he could be close to the omega and not somehow touch him. It had been a fools errand. Then, the first chance he had gotten alone with Alexander he had thrown all of his careful plans out the window and found himself confessing his desire for the omega as if the boy would suddenly just fall into his arms.

He had been such a fool.

He stalked around his hut grabbing his few things and shoving them into a cloth bag. He needed to leave, immediately.

Surely, the boy was even now in the office of Prior Burr telling the other man how George had tried to seduce him. He would tell him how George had suggested that he go into his new marriage with a bastard already in his belly. He’d tell Prior Burr that George did indeed have a knot. One he very much wanted to feel swelling inside Alexander.

He’d be lucky to make it out of here alive. If he didn't leave before the boy had gone to the Prior the other man would soon have the villagers mass together and they would violently see him out of their village.

He had been such a fool.

He grabbed his only change clothes, a set of working man's trousers and a coarse linen shirt that the Prior had given him as extra clothing to change from day-to-day. Then he grabbed the two bottles of wine he had stashed away while working in the garden and shoved them in the bag as well. After that he grabbed several loaves of bread that he'd taken from the kitchens so that he could have dinner each night without bothering the monks. There were also some apples and George quickly stuff them into the bag as well. As soon as he was done, he could leave. He could force Alexander Hamilton out of his sight and out of his mind he could get himself out of Italy before he lost his life.

"You're the worst kind of fool," George muttered to himself. "Your mother always said so. She always said, "George one of these days that knot of yours is going to lead to your downfall. And she was right of course," George sighed to himself.

He heard a faint rap at the door and froze. He was sure he had at least an hour before the boy had bothered to confess to the Prior. He had hoped Alexander Hamilton would give him time to flee. But obviously he thought wrong and the boy had been quicker in his renunciation than George had expected.

He took a deep breath and prepared himself to face the condemnation of the monks. There was nothing he could say. He had tried to seduce someone else's omega. He would simply open the door and with the monks accused him he would confess. Then, he would show them the bag and let them know that he was on his way. He would not bother them again.

And Alexander? Alexander could go on to marry his Duke and give him many fair-haired children, never again thinking of George.

He took another deep breath and start towards the door of his hut, then jerked it open. There, on his doorstep, was the dark omega known as Lafayette. Next to him was the other omega that Alexander shared a room with. Behind them he could hear a soft giggle and then the two omega stepped aside and presented them with Alexander, his face flushed, his hair tumbling loose, giggly and loose with the dusk burnishing his hair a deep coppery brown.

"What is this?" George asked, confused. Why had the two omega's brought Alexander to him? Shouldn't they know that they should keep Alexander as far away as possible?

"Sir," Lafayette said and made a mocking bow. "We bring you your omega."

"I…" George stared at them, his confusion deepening.

"You," Alexander giggled. "Are very tall."

George looked between Lafayette and John Lawrence, still confused. "I don't understand."

"I…" Alexander giggled again as he stumbled into the room. "I like you."

"Have a good evening," Lafayette said with a smirk and then laced his fingers through John Lawrence. 

“But what about—” 

They turned, glancing once over their shoulder at George and Alexander, and then made their way back to the monastery, both of them looking like cats who had managed to spend their day in the creamery instead of hunting mice. 

Alexander flung himself into George's arms and then began to nuzzle at his chest. George looked down at him, still confused. The boy was… George sniffed. Not drunk, precisely. He smelled faintly of wine, but not nearly enough to make him this insensible.

"You should probably come in," George said with a sigh. Whatever they had given the boy, to help get him relax and making him giggly, it had made him insensible. And all thoughts George had ever had of Alexander, the boy had been imminently conscious, which meant tonight? Tonight a week’s worth of his sweetest dreams would become his greatest nightmare— his omega in his arms and George, struggling to be the gentleman and not touch him. 

"Lafayette says," Alexander swayed and then nuzzled his nose closer to George's chest, then took a deep breath.

George shuddered at the contact.

"Lafayette says that the first should be for desire since everything else is for duty," Alexander sighed.

George stared down at the giggly omega in his arms. "You're drunk."

Alexander pulled his face away from George's chest and then shook his head, giggling again. "I'm not drunk, Brother Rush gave me something to help me relax, to make the knotting go easier."

"So, your drugged?" George stepped away from him. Just what he needed, a drugged omega to claim that he seduced them in the morning.

"I…" Alexander giggled "want you. I just needed to relax a bit so that I might enjoy it. Lafayette says that if I just relax letting you mate me will be quite enjoyable. But I?" Alexander straightened his shoulders and stared at George. “I never relax. I am too high strung the brothers always tell me.  Alexander you must relax. But I don’t and so Brother Rush gave me something to help me relax and so now you should mate me.” 

"No," George said. "Your drugged"

"That doesn't matter," Alexander said. "I wanted you, before I was drugged. The drugs just help me relax, so I'm not scared anymore." 

George sighed and paced away from him, running his hands over his shaven head wishing that for once he had hair so that he could pull it. "You said you didn't want to mate," George said. "You have a fiancé, you are getting married. You don't want to be bred."

"I…" Alexander shifted and George stared at him as the omega’s cheeks filled with color. "I…"

Suddenly, George understood. Or at least, he thought he might understand. "Have you never been with anyone before?" 

Alexander turned then and started to fumble towards the door, tripping over his own feet.

George hurried forward grabbing the boy around the waist and pulling them back against George's chest. "Shh," he said trying to be soothing. "Shh, it's all right. It's all fine, Alexander." 

Alexander sagged back against him and George could feel the omega’s body relax.

"You're fine," George whispered in his ear. "We won't do anything you don't want to do."

Instead of answering, Alexander just nodded and let himself relax further into George's arms. "Is it going to hurt?"

Hurt, George thought to himself. That's what Alexander was afraid of. Someone had told him that George was going to hurt him.

"It might," he said, “in the beginning. But, if we were to mate I'd be gentle. I’d be so gentle that you would feel nothing but pleasure in my arms." He started to lead Alexander slowly toward his bed. "But, tonight, you should rest."

"Rest?" Alexander stared at him. "But, I thought we were… I thought you wanted to…"

George stared at the younger man as he tucked them into his bed. He reached down to slip Alexander's slippers off his feet, and then tugged the blankets away urging Alexander to lay down, his head on the lumpy pillow that George had found when he taken over the hut the week before. Then he pulled the blankets back up over Alexander shoulder and tucked them in. He grabbed the chair that he kept near the small table and pulled it over to the side of the bed and sat down heavily. He reached over to stroke Alexander's hair. "I want to mate with you," George said. "But I want you to remember it. Besides, you can't want this, if you're under the influence of a potion."

Alexander stared up at him with wide eyes. "But I came here because I thought you wanted…"

"I do want," George said. "But I want you to come to me from want not from fear. Now, go to sleep Alexander."

"But…"

George leaned forward and pressed his lips against the omega's forehead, breathing him in, subtly torturing himself in the process. "I can wait," George whispered and then brushed a second kiss against Alexander's ear. "I could wait forever for you."

Alexander looked up at him his eyes going even wider as he breathed in George’s scent. "Lie beside me?"

George stared at him, this was the exact temptation he did not need. Alexander, warm and willing in his bed, was more temptation than any alpha should ever have to bare. But, looking at the younger man, and seeing how lost he seemed, George knew that he had no choice. In fact, once the words read Alexander's mouth, George knew he had lost already. Even if he got nothing else from his time with Alexander, he couldn't turn down the chance to hold the other man in his arms.

"Budge over," George said and then kicked his own clogs off.

Alexander scooted over shifting and squirming so that he was next to the wall and then turned, his eyes wide, staring eagerly at George. George, slipped into the bed beside him, fully clothed, and then lay his head on the pillow besides Alexander's. "Go to sleep Alexander."

"Will you be here in the morning?" Alexander asked his voice soft.

George sighed. "Where else would I be? You're in my bed."

"In the morning, when the potion has worn off," Alexander said, his eyes wide. "Do you want…"

George felt himself stiffen and had to bite back the groan that was building in his chest. This, this was going to be hell.

"Go to sleep Alexander."

 

  



	8. Chapter 8

Alexander was warm, and he could feel the wall against his back. He shifted, trying to figure out where he was. Usually, in his cell, he slept in between John and Lafayette. He always had one slightly squishy omega on either side of him. But this morning, he wasn’t in his cell. He was in a strange bed with a rough wall against his back and something warm wrapped around his front. He opened his eyes slowly and peeked out at a cracked window with the pale light of sunrise pouring through it. He squinted his eyes, and tried to fight the fogginess in his head. His cell didn't have a window that looked out towards the east. The window in his cell look towards the west. He shouldn't have been able to see the sun.

Slowly, not opening his eyes, Alexander inched his hand closer to the body next to him. He let his hands trail up over hard, muscled stomach. He let his hand trail up to a broad, strong chest. He took a deep breath in, taking in the spicy scent of another against him. It wasn't the sweet scent of another omega. It was something darker, and richer, something that made his entire body ache. The chest underneath his hand moved slowly up and then down. 

Alexander desperately wished he could remember where he was and exactly how he had gotten here.

"Alexander?" A rough rumbly voice whispered. "Alexander, sweetheart, are you awake?"

Alexander froze, all the heat in his body suddenly going towards his cock. He was with the gardener, he was with George. What had happened that he had ended up here? He shifted moving his legs together, circling his hips, trying to feel if he was in any pain. 

Slowly the body under his hands turned and Alexander felt strong arms wrapped around his waist pulling him close.

"If you keep doing that," George murmured in his ear, "you'll be late for breakfast. I'm doing my best to mind my manners, but, you're making it exceptionally hard."

Alexander felt George shift his hips closer and suddenly he understood exactly what George had meant as the other man's long, thick, hard cock pressed against his stomach.

Alexander drew in a shuddering breath and tried to keep calm. The other man was huge. Had he really taken that last night? How had he… When had they… And why wasn’t his entire body aching after mating with an alpha as large as the one holding him right now? 

He opened his eyes slowly, and began to squirm back away from George.

Instead of letting him go, George only shifted closer, wrapping his arms tighter around Alexander. “Shhh," George said and one of the hands wrapped around his waist began to make small circles of his back. "Shhh, you're all right. Alexander, you're all right. You’re safe. Just relax."

Alexander slowly let his gaze travel up to meet George's. "Did we? I mean… You… And I… Did we… Well you know. Did we do  that last night?"

"If you mean," George said slowly before dropping his head down to nuzzle his nose along the length of Alexander's neck, "did we make love last night? No. Did your cellmates bring you, drunk and drugged and more than a little giggly, to my door and hand you over to me with the order that I should mate you and make you my own? Yes, that happened."

"Oh, no," Alexander whispered and then dropped his forehead down so he could hide his face in George's chest. He took a deep breath in, his own body growing wet just from the scent of the alpha next to him. He wanted him, but after last night's display, he knew that George couldn’t want an omega as foolish as he was. Not after last night. 

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He had let Lafayette take him to see Brother Rush about his wedding night. Brother Rush had been more than sympathetic, he told Alexander that most omega's felt the same way when they first thought about being mated. He had sat Alexander down and, very calmly, explained to him that what what took place between an alpha and omega and how it should feel. The whole time Lafayette sat on one side of him and John Lawrence on the other, both of them holding his hands and patting them sympathetically as if they were nurse maids there to protect him.

Then, Brother Rush had told him that the best thing he could do, to feel more secure about his upcoming nuptials, was to practice. He had given Alexander three sheaths of various sizes; the first barely bigger than Lafayett;, the second twice as large— beta sized as Brother Rush clarified; and the third with a flared knot at the end the largest of them all. 

Shifting close to George now, Alexander thought that even the largest would be much smaller that he would have have needed to feel comfortable in this situation. 

Even then though Alexander had felt awkward. So, to make things easier, Brother Rush had given him a small draught to help him relax. He had told Alexander that he was supposed to take a few stops in his wine each night before he began to practice, gradually moving to the medium and then the larger sheaths. 

But Lafayette had decided that it would be better for Alexander's first time if he simply relaxed fully and then went and saw George.

"The sheathes are never quite as fun as an actual alpha," Lafayette said. "For your first time, you really should experience the real thing."

So he drank the bottle down and then, let the other to talk him into going to see George. Now, here he was, in bed with the alpha that he had been wanting for the past week and no memory of what had happened between them.

George stared down at him curiously. "Do you remember anything?"

Alexander shook his head morosely. "Did I make terrible fool of myself?"

George pulled him closer and pressed a delicate kiss to the skin behind his ear. "No," he said softly. "You were soft, and warm, and once I got you into bed, you snuggled like a kitten against my side for the entire night."

"But we didn't…"

George shook his head. "You weren't in your right mind," he said softly. "When I have you, I want you to remember it."

"When you have me?" Alexander asked. "Does that mean that you still want me?"

"Alexander, it's never been a question of if I wanted you," George said softly. "It's always been a question of what you wanted."

"I want you," Alexander whispered. "I've never wanted anyone before but right now I want you. It's just —"

"Just?" George prompted.

"It's just that I'm afraid it will hurt."

George hummed. "Well, I'll have to make sure it doesn't."

He brought his mouth down on Alexander's forcefully. George's tongue invaded Alexander's mouth as he rolled onto his back his hands pulling at the robes around Alexander's waist. Alexander sighed into the chaos, his passion growing as his body began to ache from within. He could feel wetness coating the back of his thighs and he was eager for the other man's touch. Far more eager than he'd ever been for John or for Lafayette.

"I want you," George said. "I'll be so good to you. I'll make you feel so good."

Alexander gasped, trying to be logical even though his entire body ached with need. "I want you too."

His hands quickly found the side of George's shirt and he began to pull it up, running his hands along the skin where he only felt fabric before.

Once Alexander's robes were off, George jerked his own shirt off and then stood at the edge of the bed staring at Alexander, laid out bear upon his mattress.

"If you want to change your mind," George said, his eyes dark with passion. "Now is the time to tell me to leave you alone."

"Mate me," Alexander whispered. "Please, George, I'm aching for it. Mate me."

The alpha reached for the button at the top of his breaches and slowly slipped it free. 

Alexander felt his heart pounding in his chest and it was suddenly much harder to breathe. He wanted to see him. Wanted to touch him, and to taste him, wanted to feel the alpha in front of him deep inside his body.

"Please," Alexander panted. "Please, I need you."

"Get on your knees," George said, his voice tight and strangled.

Alexander watched as the alpha pushed his breeches down the length of his body and Alexander couldn't help but swallow as he took in the massive size of the other man's cock. He wanted him, but he couldn't help but wonder how exactly such coupling would take place. Somehow, he wasn't sure that all of the all the alpha in question would fit. 

He scooted backwards on the bed trying to put some space between him and the alpha. Suddenly he wasn't sure that this was a good idea. Everyone had told him that his body would respond to an alpha, but none of them had said that it would respond well.

George reached out and brushed his fingers over Alexander's ankle. "Shh," George hushed him. "It's fine. You'll be fine. Just get on your knees and face the wall. I'll be gentle with you."

Alexander nodded wants and then hurried to scramble over on all fours, opening his legs into a wide stance and perking his bottom-up so that the alpha could see that he was eager for him even though inside, every single one of his instincts was telling him that this? This was very much not a good idea. 

Alexander braced himself, expecting cold fingers inside his body and then warm press of George's cock into him.

Instead, George climbed onto the bed, making the rough mattress dip. 

Next, Alexander felt a soft kiss against his spine between the shoulder blades. Then another kiss, slightly lower down. Then another. And another. And another.

George brought his hands to Alexander's hips and his thumbs began to massage soothing circles into the overheated skin of Alexander's ass, never touching the spot where Alexander wanted them most, George simply massaged his muscles, relaxing him, as the alpha continued to kiss lower, and lower, and lower.

Finally, George's mouth was just above the split between Alexander's legs. Alexander sucked a great a deep breath in and tried to stay calm. Surely, now George would open him? Surely he'd feel the blunt end of George's cock pressing against him and he would breech him and Alexander would be George's?

He heard George suck in a deep breath and then let out a long groan. "You smell like heaven."

Alexander let out a shaky breath and tried to relax. George wouldn't hurt him. George had promised he would be gentle, and even though Alexander had only known him a few days, he knew the alpha in question wouldn’t lie to him. He wouldn't hurt Alexander. After all, if he had wanted to hurt Alexander? He could've had him last night, when Alexander was drugged, and then Alexander wouldn't have even been able to say for sure what had happened between them.

He felt a tentative brush of the tongue against his entrance and Alexander jerked forward, unsure what was happening.

The fingers on his hips tightened, pulling him back, and George made soothing noises. "Relax Alexander," George said. "Just relax and let me taste you."

Alexander looked over her shoulder as the other man glanced up at him with dark eyes and then slowly leaned forward and licked from the base of Alexander's balls all the way up to his entrance, then let his tongue circle, slowly dipping inside Alexander.

Alexander let out a long, low moan, and lifted his hips eager for more of the sensation.

George pulled away slightly and smirked at him. "Do you like that?"

Instead of answering Alexander simply pushed his hips backwards and moaned again. He let his fingers wrap around the pillow and squeezed, dropping his head down and lifting his ass even higher, to let George know that he didn't want the alpha to stop.

"Such a beautiful boy," George murmured against his skin and then slowly began to lap, working Alexander open with his tongue, circling the rim, teasing him,.

Soon, Alexander was drenched to his knees, and was aching to be touched. "Please, please, please,” Alexander panted. "Please I'll be so good for you. I need you. Please just take me, knot me, I'll be the best Omega you've ever had. I'll make you forget any other omega ever existed."

"You've already done that," George murmured against his skin.

"Please," Alexander panted. "Please, just knot me."

"In time," George answered. "You're not quite there yet."

He bent his head back down and began to lap at Alexander again. This time, instead of just licking around his rim, George wiggled his tongue inside, impaling Alexander upon it, moving it back and forth, making him writhe in pleasure. He could feel himself stiffening, hardening to the point where he knew soon he would come.

"Please! I'm going to…" He felt fire racing along his limbs and sparks dancing up his spine. All of his muscles tightened, and the sight at the sides of his eyes went dim as his entire body convulsed trying to get closer to George's tongue at the same time trying to get as far away from it as possible. "Oh! Oh God! Oh sweet God in heaven!"

He felt George press a soft kiss to his tail bone and then pull away from him. Alexander looked over her shoulder and stared at the other man as he stood slowly getting off the bed.

"Wait," Alexander yelped. "We aren’t done, are we?"

George smiled and shook his head. "No, darling, were nowhere near done." George shifted and then wrapped his arms around Alexander's waist, carefully urging him onto his back, opening his legs.

"Alexander, we’re nowhere near done." George swiftly slid two fingers inside Alexander and rubbed them against each other, then scissored them, to make sure that Alexander was well stretched and ready for him.

Alexander mewled in pleasure and opened his legs wider. "Please, I want you."

George hummed and then let his finger slip free. He shifted forward, his weight on his knees and soon Alexander felt a warm press of flesh as George found his entrance. "Take a deep breath,” George said, “and then slowly, when I tell you, let it out.”

Alexander nodded once as George positioned himself.

"Breathe in," George whispered and Alexander quickly sucked in a lungful of air.

George pressed in, stretching him, far larger than Alexander had even imagined he would be. His entire body burned and ached. But he didn't want to stop. It was like he was being ripped apart and made a new all over again.

"Breathe," George whispered as he continued to slide slowly slowly forward into Alexander.

Alexander began letting out his breath, his body adjusting around George as he went.

"Am I hurting you?" George whispered.

Alexander shook his head slowly and wrapped his arms around George's neck. "Please, I need you."

George leaned forward, shifting his weight and making Alexander's entire body sing with pleasure. He pressed his lips against Alexander's forehead and shifted his hips, going deeper.

Alexander moaned and threw his head back trying to get his body closer to George's.

"Such a beautiful thing," George murmured in his hair. "So warm, and sweet, so tight around me. It's like you're made just for me, aren't you? My little omega, here, just waiting for me to come and find you. You were made to fit just perfectly around me, weren't you?"

Alexander moaned in agreement and lifted his hips. 

"Say it," George said as he continued to thrust, his hips picking up speed. "Say that you’re mine."

"I'm yours," Alexander gasped. "I'm all yours. Please, please, I want your knot."

"Mine." George panted as his hips continued to pick up speed.

"Yours," Alexander agreed, shifting his hips and arching his neck to the side give George plenty of room to place his teeth. He wanted to be bitten. He knew it would ruin him, he knew he be thrown from the repositorio and his father would never speak to him again once he was disgraced. But he didn't care, he wanted George, wanted George to lay his claim and let the entire world know that Alexander was his omega.

"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!" George muttered as he continued to thrust into Alexander.

"Yours."

"Mine!" George yelled as he pressed inside one last time and stilled.

Alexander felt pressure against his rim and a sudden fullness. George was knotting, filling him. He tried to shift away, it was too much, too large. It was more than he could take, and George would tear him apart if he didn't escape from this. His body wasn't meant for this. He couldn't do it.

George tightened his grip on Alexander and held him still, dropping his forehead to touch Alexander's.

It's all right, it's all right. Just relax into it."

"It won't fit," Alexander panted. "You're too large and it won't…"

"You're doing fine. Almost there. Just keep breathing."

Alexander tossed his head back and forth as George’s knot continued to grow. "I can't. It's too large. Get it out! Get it out of me!"

"It's too late for that now," George whispered as he pressed kisses against Alexander’s face. "Just breathe. You’re mine now. I won't let anything hurt you. Come on now. Breathe in for me." George took a deep breath and an Alexander instinctively mimicked him. George let the breath out slowly and Alexander did as well, his body relaxing.

Suddenly George’s knot stopped swelling and Alexander's body stopped panicking and they were knotted and he realized that he was fine. In fact, he felt wonderful.

"There," George said softly. "There you go. You're doing fine."

Alexander nodded and took another breath letting it out slowly.

"Just a few more minutes," George told him. "Just a few more minutes and it'll go down nice and then you can take a break. You're doing so well, you're such a good omega."

He reached up to stroke Alexander's hair and Alexander resisted the urge to try to move closer, to curl up into his alpha's chest. He shifted his weight from side to side and George let out a soft groan and Alexander felt himself filled with George's seed.

"If you don't stop that," George said, "this will be over sooner than you'd like. And then you're just going to have to do it all again."

"Can we?" Alexander asked his heart picking up speed. "Can you do it again so soon?"

George let out a groan. "You are going to be the death of me."

"So that's a yes?" Alexander asked, smiling up at the alpha holding him.

"Yes," George said."But next time you're doing all the work."

Alexander looked at him skeptically and George laughed. 

"Alexander, are you telling me that for all the lovemaking you've done with those other omegas, you've never been on top?"

Alexander stared at him. "I'm the youngest. And besides, why would you want me to…"

George laughed and shifted his hips sliding deeper into Alexander as his cocked twitched again and filled Alexander with more seed. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Alexander's ear. "Not like that. But soon I'll have something new to teach you, something I think you're going to enjoy quite a lot."

 

  



	9. Chapter 9

George shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his back aching. His little omega was exhausting him each night. They made love so much his cock actually ached from it. He had considered going to the stables and asking the beta in charge of them if he had something for saddle sores but wasn’t sure what excuse he could use to explain why he needed it. 

That first morning, Alexander had been shy when they’d first been joined. Skittish. Then, after a short rest so that he could revive himself, George had rolled onto his back and let Alexander straddle him, coaxing his innocent omega to sit back on his cock and ride George that way. At first, Alexander had been shy, reticent. He had moved slowly, dragging his skin along George’s, barely lifting himself or moving his hips. Then, George had found the sweet spot inside Alexander that made him moan and the omega had turned into a wanton, grinding against him, begging and eager for more. 

After Alexander had come for the second time that morning, untouched again, he’d lost all of his shyness and soon began to let George hear all his pleasure noises as he worked himself into bliss. 

George had held Alexander after, calming the shivering omega, and pressing kisses into his soft skin. He’d told Alexander he was beautiful and special and that he was all that George had ever dreamed of in an omega. He’d called Alexander ‘mine’ and the little omega had smothered him in kisses, promising that he would never love another alpha besides George. 

He’d told himself that it was the hormones and the feelings of pleasure still coursing through Alexander’s veins. Omegas could be clingy when first mated and George wanted nothing more than to let Alexander stay in his bed— their bed— for the rest of the day while George pampered him, but he knew that if he did such a thing they would be caught and Alexander would be disgraced. 

So, instead, he had helped Alexander redress and had sent him on his way with a long kiss and a firm pat on his delectable ass. 

George had barely changed clothes and sat down to his own breakfast when there was a knock on the door. 

Alexander needed one last kiss to convince him that it really was time for him to leave and go to breakfast so that George could begin his work day. 

He’d been outside only a few hours, the sun not even at midway in the sky, when Alexander had appeared at the far end of the field where he was working and crooked his pointer finger at George before turning on his heel and fleeing toward the orchard. 

George had dropped his shovel then and chased Alexander into the trees to spend the afternoon loving him again. 

Then, when the moon rose, he’d heard a soft knock on his door and when he’d opened it, Alexander slipped inside again. 

“For an omega who, just yesterday, did not want to be mated,” George had panted when Alexander had pressed himself against George, hot and wanting. “You have taken to it quite quickly.” 

“That is because yesterday I was an ignorant, naive boy,” Alexander whispered as he let his hands slip down George’s chest and then began to fumble with the buttons on George’s breeches. 

“And today?” 

“Today I am yours,” Alexander had said as he pushed George’s breeches down and began to stroke his hardness. “And I’m aching for your touch.” 

“Aching?” George had whispered as he began to pull Alexander free of his clothes. “That sounds quite desperate.” 

“Oh, I am,” Alexander answered as he slipped from his robe and then naked, put his hands on George’s shoulders, guiding him backward into a chair so he could straddle George and ride him again. “Very, very, desperate.” 

He’d been warm and still stretched from their earlier lovemaking and had slid onto George’s length easily, both of them groaning when he was fully seated. 

They’d loved through the night and then again the next day. 

Now, after seven days of lovemaking, George found his knot actually ached when they were joined, as if it were protesting against sacrificing itself again and again for his little omega’s pleasure. 

“He’s not even in heat yet,” George mumbled to himself. “This is just…” 

He swallowed. He didn’t know how he would be able to service Alexander enough to satiate him through a heat if his body was beginning to exhaust itself from Alexander’s everyday needs. 

Someone cleared a throat behind him and George was pulled out of his thoughts. 

He turned and saw the oldest of the omegas— Alexander’s cell mate— Lafayette, standing at the side of the field, staring at him. 

George looked around and saw that they were alone. Once he had figured out a way for him and Alexander to get free of this place he would have to send word to the nearest cardinal and explain just how endangered the omegas here were with Prior Burr in charge of their care. After all, it had taken him only a week to seduce one omega into his bed and they had never been caught, even though they made love so much his knot was bruised. Now another was alone with him in a field far from the monastery and without a chaperone? 

If he hadn’t already claimed Alexander in his heart, or if he were a rogue without scruples, he could be a serious threat to all of the grown omegas kept here and, when their ruined state was known, it would ruin the church’s standing as well. 

Lafayette cleared his throat again and beckoned for George to follow him, before turning and starting in the direction of George’s hut. 

He swallowed, unsure what the omega wanted. He’d seen Lafayette staring at him as he worked in the fields, appraising him. Studying him. 

George knew that Alexander had shared a bed, and intimacies, with the other omega and, at first, George had thought Lafayette might be jealous and trying to figure out the best way to get revenge on George for taking Alexander from Lafayette’s bed to his own. Then he’d remembered that Lafayette had been the one to encourage their liaison and he was almost certain that it was the older omega who had figured out how to slip Alexander from his cell each night. But if it was not revenge that Lafayette wanted then what was it? 

He saw the omega glance over his shoulder at George and then beckon again before turning and continuing away from the monastery. 

George set down his basket and hurried to follow. 

Every few moments Lafayette would look over his shoulder, to make sure George was still following, and continue on. 

Once they reached his hut, George watched as Lafayette let himself in, leaving the door open for George to follow. He slipped inside behind the omega and closed the door silently. 

“Do you have a message from Alexander?” 

Lafayette turned and raised an eyebrow at him. “Alexander is currently meeting with his Father and the Duke of Melfi. It seems the Duke wants to actually lay eyes upon his betrothed before they’re eternally bound to each other.” 

George swallowed as rage boiled in his guts. He’d known that Alexander was engaged when they began mating but he’d never truly believed that he would have to give his omega up. Alexander was his after all. He had claimed Alexander. George’s seed was inside him and his scent was all over Alexander’s body. He was certain that if Alexander had not yet whelped his child he would soon. With the amount of times they made love his omega would be swelling like a pumpkin before the autumn trees had lost their leaves. He was George’s and there was no way that George would allow him to marry another.

“You didn’t know that he was to meet with the Duke today?” Lafayette raised an eyebrow at him. “He didn’t mention it?” 

Lafayette moved further into the hut and sat down delicately on the edge of George’s bed.  The bed he shared with Alexander, he reminded himself, as Lafayette opened his legs inside his robes and George caught the slightest whiff of his scent. 

He hardened, instinctively, as any alpha who was faced with an unclaimed and obviously eager omega exposing his scent to the air would be. He took a deep breath in and tried to pretend that the scent of Lafayette filling his room didn’t tempt him. It was not as sweet as Alexander’s scent. Not nearly as desirable on his tongue. 

Lafayette was beautiful and available and George knew that it would take very little to have the worldly omega in his arms. But no matter what else he was— Lafayette wasn’t Alexander and Alexander was the omega that George had claimed for his own— even if no one else currently recognized his claims. 

“The meeting seemed to be going quite well,” Lafayette continued, licking his lower lip suggestively. “At least from what I managed to overhear before Brother Hercules shooed me away. The Duke of Melfi brought Alexander a book from his library. And we all know how Alexander loves to read. It is, after all, his greatest passion.” 

George swallowed as the other man stared at him. He hadn’t known that Alexander loved to read. He didn’t know that Alexander was even able to read. Not that he should be surprised, after all, the omegas were sent here to learn how to be the omegas of noble men, they would be expected to have some learning. More learning than George-- the fourth son of a minor, impoverished, nobleman who was sent to soldier when he was ten— would ever expect to have received. 

“Did you not know that Alexander was engaged?” Lafayette asked, rolling his head back and smiling at George. “That the Duke of Melfi paid his father one hundred thousand ducats for the right to Alexander’s hand— and other things.” 

George swallowed as the omega’s lewd joke washed over him. “I know. Not how much the Duke had paid, but that they were engaged. I knew that. I also know that Alexander doesn’t want to marry him.” 

“No, he doesn’t. But I wonder, how does it feel?” Lafayette raised an eyebrow. 

“How does what feel?” George asked. 

Lafayette stood and began to sway toward him, his hips undulating like one of the snakes he’d seen the charmers in Calcutta use in their glamours when he’d been posted there. “To know that you’ve taken the virginity of the most expensive omega in the Vatican States?” 

“I don’t know,” George asked, his voice low as anger stirred in his belly. “How does it feel? After all, Alexander told me what you do together at night. Or what you used to do, before he came to me.” 

Lafayette smiled. “He’s a wonder isn’t he? So tight and warm.” He shook his head ruefully and George felt his hands curl into fists. “And those little noises he makes just as he’s about to spill across the bedsheets. That little whine, as if he’s afraid of what will happen when he’s finally been pushed over the edge and finds his bliss.He is an angel in bed, isn’t he?” 

George closed his eyes, trying to block the omega’s taunts out of his ears. 

“Although do you hear his whines?” Lafayette continued. “Or does he yell with you? He must yell and scream through his pleasure? He doesn’t need to keep quiet here and besides, I’m heard how raspy his voice is when he comes back to our cell each morning for breakfast. I see the way he moves carefully, barely resting his weight upon the chair because of the soreness, and the rasp in his voice from a night spent in the throws of passion.” 

“What do you want?” George stepped away from him and Lafayette followed, pressing him against the small table and stepping between his legs. 

“I’ve heard rumors about you. There was a rider and Brother Hercules told me he was looking for a tall, dark, Englishman. A former soldier for Ambassador of England— Lord Cornwallis. A lone alpha.” 

“And what did Brother Hercules tell this rider?” 

“That we were a home for unmarried omegas and he’d find no alpha here,” Lafayette answered. “But, the rider told me more when I offered him a suitable trade.” Lafayette smirked. “And this rider told me that this alpha— George— was wanted for foisting a bastard onto Lady Cornwallis and then, when exposed for a traitor, he had fled.” 

George swallowed. “And why tell me about this rider?” 

“Because I was simply curious. It seems to me that you, sweet Gardener George, have a bit of a collector’s taste.” 

“A collector?” 

“You had a Lady and now, once Alexander is married, you can claim you’ve mated a Duchess.” Lafayette wrapped his arms around George’s neck and pressed against him, his lips next to George’s ear. “But Gardener George, you seem to be missing the rarest fruit of all.” 

“And what is that?” He tried to push away from the omega but Lafayette simply held on tighter, pressing their bodies together.

“Me,” Lafayette nipped his earlobe. “For after you’ve fucked a lady and a duchess the only thing higher you can aspire to is to fuck the property of a king. And come All Hallow’s Day, I shall be the property of a king. And I think, between now and then, what we both need, is for you to start giving me the same treatment as darling little Alexander has started to receive. Otherwise, the next rider that comes along? I might have to tell him about our sweet, simple, Gardner George.” 

His hand slipped into George’s breeches and found his length, stroking it slowly. “Oh yes,” He purred. “This will do quite nicely.” 

“But…” George tried to push the omega away without hurting him, but Lafayette had planted his feet and tightened his grip on George’s manhood, making his hips stutter at the surprise pleasure of it. “I have already mated Alexander.” 

“And now,” Lafayette said, raising an eyebrow. “You can mate me as well. After all, I’m sure Alexander won’t mind sharing.” 

He heard the door fly open and tried to jerk away before anyone could see what was happening between them. 

“George!” Alexander cried out as he rushed into the hut. “The most horrible—” 

Alexander froze as he saw them, his mouth hanging open. 

“Well.” Lafayette took his hand from George’s breeches and shrugged. “It seems like our timing is less than ideal. Perhaps later then? After you and Alexander have talked.” 

He sauntered past the younger omega, smiling, and let himself out of the hut, leaving the door open. 

“What…?” Alexander looked over his shoulder toward the door and then back at George, his eyes resting on George’s open buttons and his exposed cock. “You and… But…” 

“Alexander,” George said, reaching for his omega. “It’s not what it—” 

“How could you?” Alexander asked, tears beginning to stream down his face. “How could you with… With him! I thought you loved me.” 

Alexander turned on his heel and sprinted from George’s hut, his robes belling out behind him as he went, leaving George holding the waist of his trousers up and staring as his only love fled from him, broken hearted, his sobs floating on the wind to assault George’s ears. 


	10. Chapter 10

Alexander fled from George, unsure where he was to go. He couldn't go back to his cell, he couldn't face Lafayette after what he had seen. He couldn't even face John. He knew the other omega would simply tell him that this is the way things were. Why shouldn't all the omega's share and share alike? After all, he had shared Lafayette with Alexander when Alexander had been assigned to their cell. Now, that there was an alpha available, why should Alexander have George all to himself? Shouldn’t he  want to share George with his cellmates?

Alexander knew that John would be right. They should all share and share alike. But, Alexander thought to himself, George was his. The other man had given himself to Alexander and Alexander had given himself to George. George had whispered sweet love words in his ear and they talked, briefly, between rounds of lovemaking about how George would take Alexander away from the monastery and they would be together. He told Alexander that they would leave Naples together. They would go first to Paris and from there they would catch a ship to the new American nation. 

They could start over there, George had told him. In America. They could start over, and George would buy a small farm, and they could be together for always with no one to get in the way. Alexander would be George’s and no one else would be able to claim him. 

Alexander had spent his nights for the past seven days dreaming of that little farm. He had dreamed about having cows and chickens. He even dreamed about harvesting potatoes.

Then, today his father had shown up with the Duke of Melfi. 

The Duke had wanted to meet him to make sure that they would suit. He'd been sweet and kind and at twenty-six he’d seemed so very young to be a Duke. He'd been dressed in fine velvet and, when he met Alexander, he bowed low and then offered him a book with both hands as if he was making an offering to a priceless relic. 

They had sat down together, his father and Prior Burr as chaperones, and the Duke of Melfi had asked him about himself. He asked Alexander what he like to read, what his favorite foods were, and if there was anything the Duke of Melfi could provide for him so that he would be comfortable in his new home after the wedding.

Even though the Duke had been kind and generous and gentle, all Alexander could think was  I do not want to marry you. You're not George . He was eager to get away, eager not to have to stare at such a kind, earnest face. He didn’t want to look at the alpha he knew he would end up hurting when he fled.

Then, after the interminable hour of their meeting was over, he gone straight to George. He wanted to tell his alpha that they needed to leave. They needed to leave now. They couldn't wait. They had only two weeks before the wedding and the Duke of Melfi had said he would come to visit again. Soon, there would be gifts and money and then Alexander could not leave without being seen as a thief. Or worse, they would decide George was a thief who had kidnapped Alexander and they would hunt them both. 

So they needed to leave, they needed to leave now. 

He raced across the fields, with nothing more than a knowing look from Brother Hercules as he fled the monastery. Then, he got there and he’d heard voices, but he thought George might be talking to himself. He often did that, Alexander found. George would muttered to himself in English, talking about things as he went about his day. He talked about what he needs to next with the potatoes, or what was wrong with the vines. He mutter about things he needed to remember to take with him into the fields. 

Alexander had learned to just ignore it as background noise, George thought better when he thought aloud.

He hadn’t bothered to knock either because, after all, George was his alpha and there was nothing in their hut that Alexander should not be able to see. It was their home. His and George’s.

He'd walked in and he'd seen that even though he was George’s, George wasn't him his.

"Dammit," Alexander said as he pulled his hair. He found himself in the orchard and went to the tree farthest from George's hut. He sat at the base and curled his knees up underneath him and dropped his forehead onto it, his fingers still laced in his hair, pulling.

"Dammit," Alexander muttered again dropping his four head against his knees and then lifting it and dropping it again, pounding his head against his own knees and frustration. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Why have Lafayette done this? Why had George? Why couldn't George just be happy with Alexander? Why wasn’t he enough? Hadn’t he pleased his alpha? He’d been warm, and willing, and eager. He never told his alpha no, in fact often he was the one who initiated their lovemaking. Was he too needy? Did he not do the things that pleased George?

Why had Lafayette gone to George in the first place? Didn't he understand that Alexander loved George? Why couldn't he just let Alexander have him?

Maybe George would be better with someone like Lafayette? Somebody who was worldly and had more experience? Maybe Lafayette could do things with his body that Alexander hadn’t learned?

Not that he wouldn't be willing to learn, Alexander thought to himself. He would happily learned whatever it was that pleased George that he hadn't been doing. He would do anything to make his alpha happy, he loved him. But why did George choose Lafayette instead of him?

"Alexander!" George yelled and Alexander looked up to see the other man racing towards him to the orchard. He got to his feet and prepared to flee.

"Alexander, stop!" George commanded and Alexander froze, his every instinct telling him to obey his alpha but his heartbreaking all the same.

What could George tell him? He loved Lafayette? That Alexander wasn't enough? That all his talk about how they would run away and they would be free together was just that, talk? Would he tell Alexander that Alexander should marry the Duke of Melfi because George would stay here, working his way through the monastery one omega at a time? Was Alexander simply the easiest omega to tumble into his bed?

"Alexander, George said as he stopped in front of him, panting. "Alexander, it wasn't what it looked like. "

"It looked like you were making love to Lafayette," Alexander said softly. "It looked as if your breeches were open, and Lafayette hand was around your cock. Are you telling me that that wasn't what it was?"

"Yes… No…" George brought his hands up to his face and wiped it. "Yes, you came into our home and I was there and Lafayette was there and my breeches were unbuttoned and Lafayette hand was inside them," George said slowly and then rubbed his hands over his face again. He reached for Alexander.

Alexander stepped back, wary of George's touch. 

"That is what was happening, but Alexander it's not the whole story."

"I know the whole story," Alexander whispered. "He's beautiful, he's rich, and he's to be the omega of the Dauphine of France. He's everything someone like you could want in a mistress."

"I don't want a mistress!" George argued. "I want you!”

"If you wanted me," Alexander snapped. "Why were you making love to Lafayette?"

"I wasn't making love to Lafayette," George argued. "Lafayette was trying to make love to me."

"You must think I'm naïve," Alexander sneered. "I don't have much experience, and I know you're the only alpha that I've ever had, but even I know that it takes at least two people to make love. And in that hut there was you and there was Lafayette. So if Lafayette was making love to you, then obviously you were making love to Lafayette."

"I hadn't touched him!"

"No, it was enough that he was touching you!"

"Alexander," George said then reached for Alexander.

Alexander stepped back, refusing to let the other man's fingers even graze him.

"Alexander," George said again, this time his voice filled with pleading. "I don't want him. I swear to you, you are the omega I want."

"Then why are you making love to Lafayette?"

"I wasn't making love to Lafayette!"

"I know what I saw!"

"What you saw," George said. "Was the Lafayette blackmailing me. Or attempting to blackmail me at least."

Alexander froze, staring at George. "Blackmailing you?"

"Yes!" George said and threw his hands into the air. "Lafayette was trying to blackmail me. He came to me and said that you were with your fiancé. Then, he told me that he knew what was happening between us. And, that if I didn't do what he wanted, he would make trouble."

"Trouble?" Alexander asked, his chest tightening. "He wouldn't. He couldn't. There is no way Lafayette would go to Prior Burr and tell him what was going on between us. It would destroy everything. Everyone would find out. I would be ruined. Lafayette wouldn’t do that to me."

"I don't care about your fiancé!" George snapped. "What Lafayette threatened me with was worse than that."

Alexander stared at his alpha uncomprehendingly. If George wasn't worried about being discovered with Alexander the what was he worried about?

"Alexander," George sighed and then put his hands on his hips, looking heavenward and taking a deep breath. "Alexander there are things you don't know."

"Alexander sat heavily in the dirt and stared up at the other man. "What don't I know?"

George stared down at him and Alexander could see his need to tell Alexander the truth warring in his face with his need to keep his secrets. George took another breath and then turned walking away from him. 

Alexander almost stood, but before he could, George let out a strangled scream and then turned and stomped back towards him.

"You cannot think that I would let Lafayette ruin you," George said suddenly. "If I don't care about the Duke of Melfi, it's because I don't intend to see you marry him."

"Then…" Alexander stared at him. "I don't understand."

"Have you ever wondered why I came here? Why I took a job as a gardener when I knew that I was putting myself at risk?" George snapped.

Alexander stared at him, of course he had wondered. He could tell, just from their short time the fields together, the George was not a gardener. But, he assumed that whatever the alpha was running from, was his own business. Many of the omegas had speculated that George had been injured somehow, and that he was unable to knot, which was why the monastery had allowed him to come to work for them. A sterile alpha was an alpha that could keep them all calm.

"Alexander I’m wanted," George said plainly.

"Wanted?" Alexander gaped at him. "Wanted by who?"

"The Vatican, the ambassador of England, the law," George said chuckling softly. "There aren't many people who don't want me, except, right now, for you."

"Why? What have you done that so many people are after you?" Alexander stared up at him, trying to figure out why so many people would be hunting for George and why, given the situation, Prior Burr would somehow give him sanctuary. It had to be something serious for the Prior to risk all of these omegas by bringing in an alpha in disguise. What could the monastery be hiding him from?

George sighed and then stared down at Alexander. "I never wanted to tell you," George said. "I wanted to run away and I never wanted you to know."

"Know what?” Alexander asked, his heart beating triple time as he stared at the alpha pacing small circles in front of him. Whatever it was that George had done, it had to be terrible, for the man to be responding like he was.

"I'm wanted for treason," George said simply. "It is petty treason, but it is still treason."

"Treason?" Alexander couldn't breathe. What and the other man done that he was guilty of treason?

George ran his hands over his head face again and then sat down in the dirt heavily in front of Alexander, crossing his legs and then propped his elbows on his knees and dropped his face back into the palms of his hand. "I had an affair with Lady Cornwallis."

"You had an affair?"

"There's child," George said.

Alexander's heart stopped beating in his chest, and he could feel his entire body trying to curl inward away from the words that George was telling him. He had an affair with a noble lady. There was a child.

"I don't understand," Alexander said. "You claimed me. You said I was yours!"

"Alexander, you are mine."

"But if you belonged to her then you are not mine," Alexander said staring at the other man.

"Alexander, it was before I met you."

"I know it was before you met me!" Alexander screamed. There was a patch of dirt beside him and he dug his fingers into it before flinging the dirt George's face. "Just because because I was a virgin when we first mated it doesn't mean I'm an idiot! If there's a child, obviously you had claimed her before you claimed me! What I don't understand, is if you had an omega already why did you ruin me?"

"I never claimed her!" George argued. "She is not mine, she belongs to another. She has a husband but he is a beta and cannot give her children and she was lonely and..."

Alexander froze, stunned.

George took a deep breath. "Lord Cornwallis is a beta pretending to be an alpha. Lady Cornwallis’s family did not have him examined before their wedding. Then, on their wedding night, the lady in question found that her husband could not give her child. Soon after I came to work for them and she was sad and she was lonely and it just happened."

"It just happened?" Alexander asked him quietly.

"It happened," George said. "And then she was pregnant and I never touched her again. I swear to you, it was nothing. I was alone and I was sad and she was alone and she was sad but when we were together neither of us were alone and we didn't feel so sad anymore."

"And what about the child? What about  your child?"

"He's not my child," George said quietly. "He can't be my child."

"If she is an omega, and her husband is a beta, and you're the only alpha she had in her bed," Alexander snapped. "Then the child is yours."

"Then he is this a bastardized son of the fourth son of a minor nobleman," George argued. "He is a son who inherits nothing if he is mine. But, as the Viscount Moberly, the son of Lord Cornwallis, the heir to the third largest state in England, he has everything anyone could ever wish for. He has power and money and influence. All things he cannot have if he's mine."

Alexander stared at him, unsure what to say. "Did you love her?"

"I felt sorry for," George whispered. "After her son was born, they weaned him and then took him from her. Lord Cornwallis sent the boy to live with a wet nurse at his family's estate in Surrey and then he and Lady Cornwallis came to Italy. She hasn't seen the boy in over a year. She committed adultery to give him an heir and then, to punish her for it, he took her child."

Alexander could barely breathe the thought. He didn't want children, had never wanted children, but he couldn't imagine baring a child and having it snatched from him as an infant. "I don't know what you want me to say to you," Alexander whispered.

"You don't have to say anything," George said, reaching for him.

Alexander let their fingers tangled together and tried to hold back his tears. George had a child. George had loved another omega and even though he hadn't officially claimed her, she was the mother of his son.

"Was I just a distraction?" Alexander asked softly.

"No," George whispered. "I love you."

"And when I'm married to the Duke of Melfi," Alexander asked. "Will you love the next omega to fall into your bed? Will you tell him about the child you foisted onto Lord Cornwallis? Will you tell him about the child that you foisted into the home of the Duke of Melfi? Will I be another omega that you felt sorry for? Someone who kept you from being lonely while you waited for your one omega love?"

"No," George said softly. "If you marry the Duke of Melfi, you will be the omega the broke my heart."

  



	11. Chapter 11

His stomach rolled and he knew he was going to vomit again. It had been a constant in his life for the past week. A constant since he’d lost George to Lafayette. 

He’d gone back to the monastery that day and gone to see Prior Burr. 

“We need to move up the wedding to the Duke of Melfi.” 

Prior Burr had simply stared at him as if Alexander wasn’t speaking perfectly fluent Italian. “I—” 

“I may be carrying the gardener’s bastard and we need to move up the wedding so that, if I am, the Duke of Melfi will be more inclined to think it is his.” 

“I…” Prior Burr stared at him, his mouth open. 

“Surely you knew he was an alpha in hiding?” Alexander snapped. 

“He told me that he could not… That he was… He was injured and unable to knot an omega.” 

“Yes,” Alexander said and raised an eyebrow. “Well, he lied to you. And we’ve made love twenty three times in the past 4 days and I may very well have gotten pregnant. So, we’ll need to move the wedding up so that the Duke and I can consummate our marriage and, if I am pregnant, there can be no doubts in society that the child was a wedding night blessing.” 

“I…” 

“Prior Burr,” Alexander said, his voice firm. “You must write to my father and tell him that I have fallen madly in love with the Duke after our meeting and I desire to marry him as soon as possible. I have been stricken by Cupid’s arrow and must wed my betrothed as soon as the provisions can be made. While you’re doing that, I shall write a letter to the Duke and tell him how anxious I am to be joined with him and suggest that I would like to marry as soon as possible.” 

“So that the bastard you are carrying will have a Duke as a father?” Prior Burr asked. “Have you no shame? Pushing your bastard into the Duke’s line of succession?” 

“There is no proof that I am pregnant yet,” Alexander argued. “And if I am to marry in the next few days then the Duke and I will consummate our marriage. Then, if there is a child, no one— including me— will know who is the father. Not for certain. It is just as likely that it will be the Duke’s child as it is that it will be the gardener’s. 

“And, as far as my shame?” Alexander continued. “I hardly think that is something you should concern yourself with. Perhaps, instead, you could contemplate your own sins. Such as bringing an alpha into the grounds of a monastery where you are meant to be protecting omegas from the outside world. Or the complete lack of supervision that your penitent fathers allow us to live under that has made it possible for me to have gotten myself into this situation. I have spent the past four days and nights being knotted by an alpha inside your monastery’s grounds and no one has seemed to notice that I was not where I should be!” 

“I…” Prior Burr stared at him.

“If you think that this has the potential to ruin me Prior,” Alexander snarled, anger and shame twisting together in his guts, “then I suggest you remember that you will be destroyed right beside me as if you were the one to impregnate me.” 

“I would never—” 

“The gossips will not care about the truth,” Alexander said sharply. “All they will care about is that I fell pregnant while under your supervision. And then, when they come to investigate they’ll find out all about the things that happen here. The special relationships some of the omegas have with the brothers. How we are left to care for each other. I will be a tarnished omega that will most likely end my days as the concubine of a minor noble or a courtesan in an expensive house. But you? They’ll burn you for the perversions you allowed to take place here.” 

Prior Burr’s mouth fell open in shock. “You horrible bitch,” he managed to utter, his voice strangled. “You horrible, spoiled bitch.” 

“Write the letter. I’ll have my own ready within the hour.” 

Prior Burr simply nodded as Alexander turned to the door. “And I’ll need my own cell until the wedding,” Alexander announced. “So that I might have solitude for reflection and prayer.” 

“A private cell?” Prior Burr said. “Of course. Go to Brother Hercules and tell him that I have ordered it.” 

“And tell that worthless whore Lafayette that if he gets near me again I’ll scratch his eyes out,” Alexander said and pulled the door open, gliding out with his head held high. 

“Alexander?” John’s voice brought him back to the present and his stomach rolled again. 

He was most definitely going to vomit. 

“Come.” John held a bowl of stew and nodded toward Alexander. “You need to eat.” 

His stomach twisted in on itself. “I cannot,” he whispered. 

“You’ve barely eaten enough this week to keep a bird alive. And when you do eat…” 

Alexander felt tears building in the sides of his eyes. He dashed them away with the outside of his wrist and sniffled. 

“Oh Alexander,” John set the stew down on the table and hurried over to the bed to wrap his arms around Alexander. 

“Why does it still hurt so much?” Alexander whispered. 

“Because your heart is broken,” John whispered. “And it will take more than a few days to heal.” 

“I only knew him for a short time,” Alexander answered. “Why does his absence hurt me so much when I only had him for a few days?” 

“Because you loved him,” John whispered. “He was the first alpha to claim you and you gave him your heart.” 

Alexander nodded. “I thought we would be together forever.” 

“Alexander,” John sighed. 

“I knew,” Alexander said and then sniffled again. “I knew that my father wanted me to marry the Duke. But George told me that he loved me and that we would run away together. We were going to go to America and start a life together. A life far away from all of this.” 

“I know.” John said, wrapping his arms around Alexander and rocking him. “I know he promised you those things.” 

“I just… Why? Why did he lie to me, John? Why did he choose Lafayette over me?” 

“Oh, sweetheart,” John whispered consolingly. “He lied to you because he is an alpha and that is what they do. They will do whatever it takes to claim an omega as their own. They will lie and they will steal and they’ll even commit murder if that’s what they think they must to claim an omega that they desire. George would have promised you anything to get you to open your legs and allow him to slip his knot inside you.” 

“But once he had me,” Alexander sniffled. “Why wasn’t I enough? I gave him what he wanted and he still… They were still together. Him and Lafayette and Lafayette was in his arms and he was touching George. And George said it was only because Lafayette was forcing him but…” 

“But?” John asked. 

“Why didn’t he just tell me that he was wanted? Tell me about the Lady Cornwallis and their son? We were going to leave together anyway. No one would have ever found us and we would have been safe. Lafayette couldn’t tell the Ambassador’s men where George had gone and we would have been together.” 

“Perhaps he was scared,” John said. “Scared of what would happen when he told you about his past?” 

Alexander stopped then. He had been angry when George had told him what had happened two years ago. He’d been angry and jealous and hurt that George had loved another omega before him. That he’d shared that part of himself with someone else. 

Alexander had wanted to be the only omega to share that part of George and he’d been devastated to learn that someone else had been there first. But… He swallowed. George had never judged him for what he’d done with Lafayette and John. He’d never begrudged Alexander the love he’d found inside the repositorio that had kept him from dying of loneliness. George had never judged Alexander for his past and had instead focused on the future they could build together. 

But Alexander? He had heard that George had shared his love with another and Alexander had been jealous. Angry and distrustful. He’d pushed George away and now he’d lost him forever. He could never have George again. 

Tomorrow he would marry the Duke of Melfi and he would lose any chance he had of the life he’d dreamed about with George. 

“I have made a terrible mistake, haven’t I?” Alexander whispered. 

“Oh Alexander,” John sighed. “I don’t know. You have to know that the chances for you and George to escape this place were always slim. It is most likely that we would be in this exact place in a few weeks, you heartbroken and preparing to marry the Duke of Melfi and George nowhere to be seen. Even if you had never found out about his affair with the Lady Cornwallis, you would still have been betrothed to the Duke and there was very little real chance that you and George could have escaped. 

“If you had not ended it when you did, you would have had a few more days of happiness with George and then you would have still ended up here, a bastard swelling in your belly and the Duke of Melfi waiting at the altar for you in the morning.” 

“I…” Alexander swallowed. He’d wondered if he could be pregnant. Had used the very real threat of it to convince the Prior to move up the wedding. But he’d never actually thought that he could be. “It’s only been a dozen or so days. You cannot know that I—” 

“Cannot hold your food down but still your skin glows?” John raised an eyebrow at him. 

“I cannot eat because my heart is broken.” 

“You cannot eat because the babe you’re carrying is unsettled,” John retorted. “You’ll make the Duke of Melfi a father come the spring.” 

“I…” Alexander stared at him. “I’m carrying George’s child.” 

“And you’re marrying the Duke. No matter when you broke your vows with George this heartache was always going to be waiting for you.” 

“But…” 

“So now,” John said and let his hand smooth down Alexander’s hair. “The best thing you can do is eat and then go to bed so that you can get plenty of rest for the morning. You’ll have a busy day tomorrow.” 

“But I have to see George,” Alexander protested. “We’re going to have a child.” 

“You’re going to have a child,” John answered and then pressed a kiss to his forehead. “At this point George has nothing else to do with it.” 

“John.” Alexander stared at his friend, his eyes wide. “Please. I need to see him but I know I cannot slip by Prior Burr. He leaves a brother outside my door each night, in case I need  spiritual council .” 

John sighed. “All right. What do you need me to do?” 

“Go to him,” Alexander whispered. “Go to him and tell him to come to my window.” 

“And if he says no? If he tells me that he washes his hands of you and that you can take your marriage and go straight to hell?” 

“He won’t,” Alexander whispered, shaking his head. “George wouldn’t do that. He loves me.” 

“All right.” John stood. “But while I am gone, getting your saintly lover, you eat that stew. I suspect that you’ll have a long night tonight and you’ll need the nourishment to keep you and the babe going.” 


	12. Chapter 12

He paced the hut, unsure what he was meant to do. Tomorrow Alexander was going to marry the Duke of Melfi. 

He’d spent the past week trying to stay away from Alexander. He had worked in the far fields and he had not gone near where his love should be. He had worked from sunup to sundown and only stopped to eat when he could no longer see enough to work. He had seen Lafayette once and begged the omega to tell him about Alexander. Was his omega well? Was he happy? Had he asked about George? 

Lafayette had simply stared at him and shook his head. “He is to marry the Duke. The best thing you can do is to leave this place. Leave and let him be free.” 

“I’ll leave,” George had promised. “I will. I just… Tell me that he’s happy.” 

“Who of us is ever happy?” Lafayette shrugged. “Certainly not me. Nor you. Why should Alexander be any different? But he will marry the Duke and there is no reason for you to stay.” 

“I’ll leave after he’s married,” George had sworn. “Just… let me stay in case he changes his mind.” 

“He won’t.” 

“He might,” George had said, his voice pleading. “He might change his mind and decide to come with me instead. I won’t leave until I know for certain that he has made his choice.” 

“He’s made that choice,” Lafayette argued. “He is marrying the Duke.” 

“Just…” George swallowed. “Tell him that I love him. Tell him I love him and that it’s not too late. We can leave together. We can just go. We can be together.” 

“You are a fool,” Lafayette huffed. “The both of you. Lovesick, senseless fools.” 

“Then let me be a fool,” George protested. “But tell him for me. Tell him that I love him and I will never stop.” 

Lafayette had simply nodded and turned away, leaving George alone in the field, his heart stuttering in his chest. 

He couldn’t leave. Not yet. Not if there was the slightest chance that Alexander might come to him. He couldn’t live with himself if he ever thought that Alexander had chosen him in the end but George had abandoned him here. 

But Alexander had not come. He had not sent word and George hadn’t seen Lafayette since. 

Tomorrow his love would be given to the Duke of Melfi in marriage and he would be beyond George’s reach. Tomorrow his heart would die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

He should have left. He should have gone. But even now, the night before Alexander’s wedding, here he was, foolishly hoping that the other man would choose him instead. 

There was a soft tap on the door and George froze. “Come in.” 

The door slid open and George saw a cowled figure. His heart began to pound. It was Alexander. His love had come to him. 

The figure in his doorway reached up and lowered his hood and George’s heart broke anew. It wasn’t Alexander. It was the freckled omega that was so often in Alexander and Lafayette’s company. Alexander hadn’t come, he’d sent someone else to shoo George away like some sort of beggar on the doorstep. 

“Alexander sent me.” 

George’s heart began to beat again. “I—” 

“Prior Burr has put a guard upon the door,” John explained. “Alexander is watched, he cannot come to you.” 

“But—” George swallowed. “He is… He is well?” 

“He is miserable,” John answered. “Pregnant and heart broken and crying for you. He sent me to fetch you.” 

“But if he’s watched—” George’s brain stuttered. “Did you say that he is pregnant?” 

“I cannot say for certain.” John shrugged. “But I suspect it is so. So does he. That is why he demanded that the Prior bring the wedding forward when he thought that you had left him for Lafayette.” 

“I explained to him—” 

John Laurens held a hand up to silence him. “It doesn’t matter to me. Alexander wants you and because he is my friend I have come to fetch you. Now, collect only the things you must take and come with me.” 

“But if he’s under guard—” 

“We’re going to break him out through the window.” John motioned with his head toward the table. “So come, collect your things, unless you’ve changed your mind about marrying him?” 

“No.” George shook his head. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. I love him.” 

“Then hurry. Brother Trumbull is well into his wine and we’ll want to sneak Alexander out before Trumbull falls into a deep enough slumber to snore.” 

“But—” 

“When Trumbull snores then the Prior sends another brother to relieve him on guard duty. And that brother will be awake. So we must go now, while Brother Trumbull is still awake but too drunk to raise an alarm. Hurry.” 

George grabbed the bag of coins and nodded. “This is all we’ll need. Everything else we can get on the road.” 

John nodded and motioned for him to follow. “Come then. We don’t have much time and we’ll want to make sure that the two of you get as far away as possible before they notice that Alexander is missing.” 

“We’ll need horses.” 

“I have arranged it already,” John said. “Yesterday.” 

“Yesterday?” George whispered as they hurried across the fields and into the monastery. 

“I suspected that Alexander would come to his senses tonight and that he would want to flee. And, since you were determined to stay, I knew that if he changed his mind you would go with him. I made preparations ahead of time so that you would succeed.” 

“But—” 

“If anyone deserves happiness,” John said. “It is Alexander. Now silent. We’re almost there.” 

John slipped him into the small, walled garden behind the main building of the monastery and ushered him toward a lighted window. John picked up a small stone and launched it up, hitting the shutters. 

They opened and he saw Alexander, his hair glowing from the candlelight behind him. 

“There is a ladder,” John whispered. “I told two of the younger omegas to bring it and leave it here earlier today. Help me hoist it.” 

“How did you convince them to do that without asking questions?” 

“I didn’t convince them,” John shrugged. “I am their elder. I told them to do it or I would tell the Prior that they were giving each other hand jobs in the confessional. They’re still so new here that they thought they might get in trouble for such things.” 

George found the ladder and lifted it, pushing it beneath Alexander’s window. He looked at John and then clambered up it to where his heart was waiting. 

“George,” Alexander whispered once he reached the top. “What are you doing?” 

“Rescuing you,” George answered as he pressed a brief kiss to Alexander’s lips. “Or kidnapping you perhaps? Either way, I think you’ll find you will be missing your wedding in the morning.” 

“But what about Lafayette?” 

“He is nothing to me,” George whispered. “You are my entire world. You and the child. Our child.” 

Alexander wrapped his arms around George’s neck and kissed him passionately then. “I love you.” 

“And I you,” George answered. “Now collect whatever things you think you need and come down the ladder after me. Carefully though, it’s dark and I don’t want you to slip.” 

Alexander nodded and pulled away from him, hurrying back into the room. 

George hurried down the ladder and steadied it for his love when he reached the bottom. 

Alexander appeared in the window again holding a small bag. 

“Toss it down,” John called out softly. 

Alexander nodded and tossed the bag to him before he edged out onto the windowsill and slid his feet onto the ladder rungs. 

George held his breath as his love turned, carefully, and began to work his way slowly down the ladder. As soon as he was in arm’s reach, George grabbed him and pulled Alexander against his chest, lifting him to the ground. “My love.” He wrapped his arms around Alexander’s waist. 

“I’m so sorry.” Alexander buried his head in George’s chest. “I was so stupid to doubt you.” 

“It’s all right,” George whispered and pressed a kiss to Alexander’s hair. “We’re together now.” 

“If you want to stay together you’ll need to hurry,” John murmured. “Come on. There are horses waiting in the stables.” 

He lead the two of them toward the stabled and rapped on the door. “Brother Tilghmann.” 

The door opened and George found himself staring at another one of the penitent brothers. 

“This is a foolish request,” the man muttered. “You’ll be caught.” 

“Not if you don’t raise a hue and cry,” John answered. “Now, you agreed to this. And you’ve already taken your payment.” 

George saw Tilghmann glance at the omega and saw the other man’s leer. 

“I don’t know if that—”

George slammed his fist into the other man’s face, knocking him down and rendering him unconscious. “That will solve that,” George said. 

“I’ll deal with punishing him later,” John said and George watched as the omega’s hand went to his waist to fondle a knife there. “But you should hurry.” 

George went into the stalls to retrieve the horses while Alexander and John said goodbye. “Thank you,” Alexander whispered. 

“Be safe,” John answered and George saw him hand Alexander a small bag of coins as he brought the horses out. “Now go, both of you, before someone else decides to start snooping.”

“Thank you,” George said and held his hand out to the omega for him to shake. 

“Take care of him,” John answered. 

“Every day for the rest of my life,” George agreed. 


	13. Chapter 13

George had been frantic after Alexander left him that afternoon. George had followed him back to the monastery, begging and pleading, trying to make Alexander understand.

He sat outside the window to Alexander’s cell and thrown rocks up to plink against the window. He'd begged Lafayette and John Lawrence to just get Alexander to come to the window and talk to him, to let him explain.

He loved Alexander. They were soul mates, he could feel it deep down, inside his bones. Alexander was his omega. Every time they were together George felt whole.

Alexander wouldn't talk to him though. He no longer came into the fields to work. George had found out that Alexander had asked Brother Hercules to allow him to work indoors, so that his skin wouldn't darken before his wedding. He spent his days in the library and anytime George sent him a message through John Lawrence, Alexander would refuse to listen.

Finally, John Lawrence and told him to stop sending messages, Alexander didn't want to hear them. Alexander wanted nothing to do with George.

Then two days ago, Lafayette had showed up at his hut again.

"Get away from me!" George yelled. "I have nothing to say to you!"

"He's to marry on Sunday," Lafayette said and then shrugged before he turned and started back towards the monastery.

"Wait!" George cried out and rushed to the other omega. He grabbed Lafayette by the shoulder and spun him around. “There two weeks before the feast of Ste. Anne the Penitent."

"They moved the wedding up," Lafayette said with a shrug. "Alexander went to Prior Burr and told him that he likes the Duke of Melfi so much as a fiancé he did not want to wait to marry. He had brought Prior Burr send a letter to his father and asked that the wedding be moved up so that he could begin his wedded life sooner."

“No," George said his heart breaking. "No, he wouldn't do that. He loves me. He's my omega."

"Tell that to the Duke of Melfi," Lafayette said. "He sent his dressers this very minute to see Alexander so he could be measured for his new wedding clothes. If he was yours, then why is he marrying him?"

"You ruined us," George accused.

"You never had an 'us'," Lafayette argued. "He was always betrothed to the Duke of Melfi, and you were always a traitor that left an omega and her child behind. You never had a future with Alexander. You knew it. I knew it. The only person who didn't know about your cruel hoax, was Alexander!"

"Lady Cornwallis meant nothing to me! She is my past," George snapped.

"And in a few weeks Alexander will mean nothing to you either," Lafayette said. " He will be your past. And you will move on to someone else. Someone just had to make him see that."

"You…" George gaped at him. "You knew that he would find us?"

"Someone had to make him see sense," Lafayette said, his face filled with stubborn pride. "Someone had to show him that all his dreams about the future you could have just that… Dreams!"

"I love him!" George snapped. "Don't you understand that? I love him and I want a life with him."

"What kind of life can you give him?" Lafayette argued. "You're going to what? Run away together? You're going to go to the America? You'll buy some farm? And then Alexander will what? He’ll whelp you a dozen alpha sons and help milk the cows and feed the chickens? He'll die twenty years before he should on a dirt farm with a dozen scrabbling kids with barely enough to eat?"

"We'll have each other," George said.

"Oh yes! Because having each other is so much better than what he would have with the Duke of Melfi," Lafayette yelled. "Being poor, with you, is better than being rich with the man who will give him everything he could ever dream about."

George stared at him. "He can't love Alexander like I do."

"Who cares about love!" Lafayette snapped. "Love is for poets and children. This is real life. The Duke of Melfi can give Alexander a life you can't even dream of. He'll marry him and he'll take him to his palace and Alexander will have his every whim and every indulgence seen to immediately. He'll always have enough to eat. The finest physicians will care for him during his lying in. His children will have everything they could ever imagine. He'll be taken care of every day for the rest of his life. He’ll never even have to lift a finger. He'll be pampered, and spoiled, and indulged by every alpha in his family and you would take him that away from him? You would take that away from him and give him what?"

"I would give him love," George said. "And I know that means nothing to you but it means something to Alexander."

"You think the Duke of Melfi won't love him? You think the Duke won't pamper him and spoil him and indulge him? You think he won't treat Alexander as if Alexander alone is responsible for the rising and the setting of the sun each day? The Duke of Melfi will love him just as much as you do and, he will love Alexander better, because he won't be scrabbling to keep the family fed."

"Money isn't love," George argued. "Money isn't even important."

"Money is everything," Lafayette said. "And if you don't think that, then you are a fool. And Alexander deserves better than a fool."

"So what would you have me do?" George asked, broken. "If you think it would be such a tragedy for Alexander to marry me instead of the Duke of Melfi what would you have me do? Would you have me stop loving him? Would you have me lie and tell him that I did not care? What is it that you want from me?" He roared the last question, his heart breaking.

Lafayette reached the pocket of his robes and took out a small bag. He threw it to George and as George caught it he heard the clank of coins and felt the weight of it. "Leave," Lafayette whispered. "There's money, just leave. I've talked to the guards at the gate, no one will stop you. Just pack your things and leave. "

"You think if I disappear he'll stopped loving me? You think so little of Alexander?" George argued.

"No," Lafayette said and shook his head. "I'm trusting that you are an honorable man, and that rather than ruin him, you'll break his heart and save him."

Lafayette turned, not bothering to look back at George, and started back across the fields towards the monastery.

George stared at him and then look down at the bag in his hand. He looked back at the omega and then again at the bag of coins.

Lafayette was right, George thought to himself. He could never give Alexander the life that the Duke of Melfi would. He would always be struggling, and there was a chance that they might go hungry, but George knew no one would ever love Alexander like he would. Until his dying day Alexander would be his and he would be Alexander's.

He looked at the bag again. But, he thought to himself, perhaps Alexander didn't need to know that? Perhaps, the best thing he could do for his omega was to let him fall in love with someone else?

 

 

  



End file.
